Our Philosophy
Academic Excellence
Appletree is a licensed Preschool and Academy of Kindergarten through the third grade, with before and after care available.
We offer a comprehensive educational experience focused on core subjects with age-appropriate specialty instruction. Our excellent student to teacher ratio allows individual strengths along with character to be developed and enhanced. Our teachers are committed to working with you to achieve the best possible results for your child.
Character Education
We teach the whole child, remembering that education not only implies academics and physical skills development but also social, emotional and spiritual growth. We instill and support manners and values that promote a friendly and respectful world through our Character Education program. As a school founded in the Christian faith tradition, Appletree emphasizes moral development.
Service to Families
Service to families is integral to Appletree to assure that our students have as much quality time with their families as possible. So that parents may enjoy more valued family time together, we offer an array of enriching after school activities on campus, and we limit our school closures.
Our History
In 1979, Wilhelmina Klaassen opened The Appletree School to teach the whole child – mind, body, and spirit.
She brought spirit “bubbling with enthusiasm” for teaching children as well as a strong appreciation of music and fine arts. Integral to her educational philosophy was incorporating character education.
Mrs. Klaassen based the school’s philosophy on the Dutch model of early childhood education. To foster a love of learning, students were introduced to lessons in language, social, physical, and creative development areas through play, with a goal of easing them into instructional style of a primary school class. Following the Dutch passion for cycling, Appletree students learn about riding a bicycle safely.
Appletree’s unique educational tradition continues today with classroom learning centers to build a solid foundation in core curricular areas. Appletree offers preschoolers opportunities to develop important skills such as number sense, phonics for language decoding skills, sensory tables to encourage exploration. Today, Appletree School students “learn by doing” much as they have for decades. Appletree’s four-year-old students move from class to class and work with specialty teachers to enrich their educational experience.
For many years in the school’s history, Appletree has hosted an annual Trike-A-Thon benefit for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital which reinforces instruction in responsibility, safety, fitness, and riding skills. Even small students discover they can make a big impact on the lives of others.
You are invited to learn more about how our founder’s model impacts learning today by exploring our twos, threes, fours, and Academy program pages, or requesting a visit to see our classes in action.
