Patricia Overy has been teaching since 1957. Twenty years ago, she decided to "start a little school and have some fun."
Thus, The Valley School was born, on the corner of 30th Avenue East and East Thomas Street.
With 18 children initially in the nursery school, Overy said she had no grand vision of what it would become, but she knew she wanted the children to be treated with respect.
The Valley School began to grow - in enrollment and campus size. In 1995, it began admitting children up to the fifth grade. The school now accommodates about 100 students every year.
Overy's vision of how the school would be taught has not changed much since the opening in 1985.
"I know this sounds cliché, but children really do come first here," said Gail Mensher, Valley School director of admissions and teacher. "One of the founding principles here is that we must meet the needs of children - and we do that."
A different curriculum
The curriculum for the students is different from those of other private schools. The Valley School is one of the few left in the nation that offers non-academic pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes, administrators say.
It has a very reserved homework policy, and students do not have homework to take home.
"They work really hard in the day," Mensher said.
After a hard day in the classroom, the school offers "creative element-based activities in the afternoon."
Once they've graduated from The Valley School, many students go on to local private schools. This coming school year, four students will attend The Bush School and four others will go on to The Northwest School.
"I love everything about this school," said Nicole Watkins, 8, a third-grader at Valley. "I don't want to leave [when I graduate in two years].... I want to send my kids to The Valley School."
The transition from The Valley School to middle school has not been difficult for students. Alumnae Samantha Burkett and Adrienne Foley, both 12, both recalled that the toughest part of the transition was that the students at their new school were much older than they were.
Following in the founder's footsteps
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, The Valley School hosted a carnival on its campus. There was a dunk tank where everyone was allowed to attempt to dunk the upperclassmen, carnival games such as ring toss and tic-tac-toe, face painting, cake walks, popcorn, square dancing, an air-filled bouncing room and treasure hunts in which children dug in the dirt to discover buried treasure.
"Mommy, I found a marble!" exclaimed Dorothea Orth-Smith, 3, holding up a blue marble she dug up from the sandbox. Her sister, Lily, was a first-grader at The Valley School,
The evening's events concluded with Valley School director Barry Wright honoring Overy. He thanked her "for being a great mentor. It is an honor to follow in your footsteps."
Board member Jean Fukuda thanked Overy for teaching "Maggie [her daughter] to read when she was ready to read."
Overy received a framed portrait of herself that will be hung in the school, as well as a bouquet of flowers from a current student.
"I won't forget this day for a very long time," Overy said.[[In-content Ad]]
