Ask the Preschool Teacher - Pam Koons

Pam Koons is our very own Seattle Correspondent at Preschoolrock.com and has over 24 years of experience as a preschool teacher and director. She holds degrees degrees from San Jose State University in Early Childhood Preschool Education, Children's Theater and Business Management. 24 years ago Pam opened her own private preschool, NW Children's School, which has been named the best private school in the county.

Rachel: What do you feel was the biggest key to your success when you started your private preschool?

Pam: Truly, there are many things. My Father was a very successful business man and he mentored me through my first 2 years. He taught me the value of customer service, and how to handle my customer base from a business perspective. He knew I could teach- but he also knew I had to learn how to run a business. Being so young when I started (22), I think naivety played a big part! Seriously though, I have a natural enthusiasm and love for selling education and that played a big key role in dealing with preschool parents, preschool teachers and the outside community. Being an smart entrepreneur, having a good business sense, and a firm business foundation really made a huge difference. 
 
Rachel: What was your biggest challenge as you built your business?

Pam: Of course there were many challenges. One that stands out was that I always had to remember to run my school as a business and not as a community service (I became very good at this)! Another challenge was learning how to deal with Teachers as employees, being we are a very sensitive, opinionated group! 

At first, when I went to get a business loan, banks would ask for my Mother or Father! 10 banks turned me down, and after much persistence, the 11th one gave me a loan of $2,000 (imagine that)! After I opened, finances never seemed to be an issue, as I believed in hiring very smartly, and then letting the Teachers run their classrooms as their own little "small businesses"; I gave them a lot of autonomy. Many of my Teachers stayed with me for 10 years or longer.

Pam: A very educational one! I started out with practically nothing in a public school portable classroom with only 4 children. Negotiations with the school board lasted 6 months as they had never done anything like it before. We outgrew the portable very quickly, growing to 60 students in the second year. Knowing I needed a larger space, I negotiated with a local developer who had a new warehouse he thought he could turn into a private school. The rest was so much fun, designing the floor plan, picking out all new materials and furniture, hiring more staff, designing more curriculum, etc. I found I had a knack for opening schools! I also postured myself very well within the Chamber of Commerce and quickly learned the art of marketing a private school. We again grew to 120 students during our third year, but never sacrificed quality for quantity. I always paid very close attention to that.

Many people might be surprised to know that when I would interview and hire Teachers, it would not necessarily matter what degrees they had. I hired for personality and who I thought would be interesting to the children. You can teach someone how to follow a curriculum- but you can't give them a personality! 
 
Rachel: What aspect of being a preschool teacher and director did you enjoy the most?

Pam: As much as I loved teaching, I loved Directing a lot more. I enjoyed working with the school parents and community the most. My school parents were made to feel special and validated, so it was like having 120 sets of built-in friends. Of course, I loved the children, too, and was in the classrooms a lot as a substitute, doing story time or children's theater activities. After 22 years, I never tired of watching another performance of Brown Bear, Brown Bear!

We went on some pretty adventurous field trips, too, which I loved. Our school did six trips per month, and I video taped all of them for the parents! We traveled on the San Juan ferry, visited the State capitol, went camping in the islands, to name a few. One time we had a baby tiger come visit. That was a memorable experience, as we all got to pet him! These many field trip experiences have helped when writing articles for Seattle.PreschoolRock.com.

Pam: Preschoolmentor.com is a growing business idea that I've had for a few years. The website is really just an Internet presence for my other business, The Business of Education, where I consult with people who want to start-up preschools and daycares. I enjoy saving folks a lot of heartache and headache with regards to the learning curve on starting up a private school. It's really fun for me to give back what I have learned.

Pam: Operating my preschool was not work for me- it was a lifestyle; therefore, we grew up together. We were inseparable. Anything I would learn in life, I would apply to my preschool and vice versa. It gave me a platform to develop my outgoingness, my creativity, my high ethics, my social skills, and my confidence in being a worthy person to society. All those characteristics naturally blended into my personal growth.

Rachel: What is your philosophy of education?

Pam: I believe all children should learn at their own pace, doing away with the traditional school concept of the "graded" school year. At my private school, we help classes up through 3rd grade for 4 years, and during that time I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. When one doesn’t have to teach within confines, one can do a lot more with children. Keep them happy and winning! Add as much creativity as possible and teach to their interest level! 
 
Rachel: What goals do you have in the future that have been influenced by your experience teaching preschool?

Pam: I see most everything I do as being influenced by my teaching and directing experiences. They’re such "heart" experiences. Currently, writing for Seattle.PreschoolRock.com is a focus that recently came into my life at just the right time. I am hoping through our associations, we can both gain from the "melding of the minds", so to speak.

I also have as a future goal to travel abroad and learn more about other country's educational systems- what works for them and what doesn't. In my near future, I would love to get back into community children's theater performances; that’s a huge passion of mine! 
 
Rachel: What do you think are the most important skills needed for someone thinking about starting a private preschool?

Pam: I feel very strongly that one needs to be a problem solver and have a natural ability to get along well with people. Make sure you have a good grasp of basic business skills, or at least a willingness to learn! Combine that with high energy and enthusiasm and that’s a great start. Having an educational background is good, too, but you can always hire good Teachers. I truly feel that to be successful, whether you aspire to have a small or large preschool- it is more important to have an entrepreneurial spirit!

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