Envisioning a School in Southeast Atlanta for the Youngest Children
The Nest Nursery School, founded in 2011 in southeast Atlanta, has grown from a small home-like environment to a thriving Reggio Emilia-inspired community in Grant Park, adapting over the years with thoughtful leadership, innovative practices, and a commitment to nurturing the youngest learners.
From Vision to Growth
The Nest Nursery School opened in the fall of 2011, and represents the fulfillment of the dream of co-founders Kristi Cameron, Mandy Palmer, and Teresa Cole, who envisioned a school in southeast Atlanta for the youngest children in our community.
Out of this vision, The Nest emerged, with an abundance of collective energy shared by the schools’ co-founders, founding families, and other community members. In 2015, Teresa left The Nest to open The Willow School in Decatur, and Kristi and Mandy remained the co-directors of the school.
The Nest initially opened in a small house in August 2011, which reflected the intention to create a unique home-like environment for children to spend their time away from their families. Twenty-seven children were enrolled each year at this location. In August 2017, The Nest relocated from Ormewood Park to a renovated warehouse space in nearby Grant Park. In its new larger facility, the school could accommodate up to 68 children in four classrooms. The relocation and expansion represented a strong moment of evolution for the school. Despite the larger and more “industrial” appearance of the school’s new location, The Nest has continually taken efforts to preserve a “home-like” feel at the school while embracing the exciting new possibilities of a larger location.
Reggio Emilia in Action
The Nest provides a unique early childhood education and care experience that is influenced by the Reggio Emilia educational project in Italy. Over the years, the co-founders of the school participated in several study tours to Reggio Emilia. They are also founding members of a local professional development collaborative called Project Infinity, which has supported conversation, exchange, and study among educators in the southeast who share an interest in Reggio Emilia.
With inspiration from Reggio Emilia, educators at The Nest share the idea that the environment functions as a “third teacher.” The environment is rich with engaging materials that offer limitless possibilities for young children to develop creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking. The school has a full kitchen, a studio space (inspired by the ateliers in Reggio Emilia), a common area we call a piazza, a constantly evolving open-air space we call the nature preserve, and other spaces for outdoor play and experiences.
Over the years, The Nest has introduced a variety of educator roles. As of 2023, The Nest employs 10 full-time classroom teachers, 2 “floating” teachers, a studio teacher, a music and movement teacher, and a naturalist. Additional support staff includes a full-time school administrator and a cook, as well as the director.
Adapting Through Challenges
As with schools around the world, The Nest confronted the COVID pandemic in March 2020 and the resulting disruptions were profound. Following three months of closure, The Nest reopened in June 2020 with a smaller enrollment (44 children) and much smaller staff (9 educators), as well as reduced hours of operation, due to the protocols necessitated by COVID. Prior to COVID, The Nest had been open from 7:30am until 6pm, and during the early days of the pandemic the hours were 8:15am-4:15pm. The shorter hours and the smaller class sizes had immediate and observable positive benefits for children and teachers, even though the strain of the shorter hours was evident for parents.
With consideration of the positive changes that resulted from the shorter hours and the smaller class sizes, The Nest rethought operation policies as everyone emerged from the COVID-restrictive policies into the 2021-2022 school year. Operating hours were reduced on a permanent basis, staying at 8:15am-5pm. Total enrollment went from 68 children to 52, and class sizes adjusted accordingly.
Evolving Leadership and Vision
In 2022, The Nest experimented with a four-day workweek for staff, allowing them to work four nine-hour days, with four paid hours of “flex time” per week. The extra time was given to teachers out of respect for how personal care needs impacted their work. This change has provided a better work-life balance and improved teacher retention.
In 2023, Mandy made the decision to step down as director in order to act as a leader from the classroom level. She now brings her decades of experience into the classroom as a teacher. The same year, Kristi moved to Illinois to work as a professor at Southern Illinois University. Eleanor Walsh, who has worked in nearly every position at The Nest in her eight years, stepped in as sole director. She is supported by the administrator, Nikki Starz.
The future of The Nest looks positive as the school adjusts to changes and continues its presence in the Grant Park community.
