Soaring Starts Early Learning & Arts

It’s time for us to soar onto our next chapter, but we’d love to welcome you to one last special event before we do!

We invite you to join us at the Mothers of North Arlington (MONA) Monthly Social at 11 am this Saturday, April 12th at Faith Lutheran Church to say “see you later” to our team and celebrate all we have done together!

This free event is happily hosted by MONA for its members. MONA has been integral to our success, as well as an incredible and well-respected resource for Arlington parents for decades. We highly encourage you to check them out at !

Makeup credits are calling! 📞 Only 10 more days to cash in any classes your student missed!

Quickly approaching deadlines are:

🌸April 5th for FA&P Saturday classes

🌸April 8th for Drama Discoveries Tuesday classes

🌸April 10th for Curious Creators Thursday classes

Call or email today to set a date!

We are *overwhelmed* by all of the love and support you have shown us upon our closing announcement!

Being here to help our youngest learners soar has been one of the greatest joys of our lives. We’ve loved being a safe space for creative play, new discoveries, artistic innovation, and blooming friendships.

We still have a few weeks of play together, so don’t miss your chance to squeeze in your makeups and play with us a few more times before this chapter ends.

And if you’re interested in what is next and have not reached out to us yet, please do!

We hope to connect with each one of you again soon, and thank you for soaring with us!

~ A Letter from Ms Stacy ~

Since its founding, Soaring Starts has been a dream come true in many ways. We opened quickly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and have brought our playful, arts-infused classes to you ever since. Our community needed us, and as of today, we have proudly served over 350 children ages 1-7. That means more than 300 of you, as families, have entrusted us with your child during their most precious developmental years. Thank you so much for sharing those moments with us. It's been an honor to witness every one of their smiles and "a-ha" moments in our program.

Holding that in my heart, I am sad to share that Soaring Starts will be closing soon. It is hard news to hold, but I know it is the right choice. For me to best serve the community I have come to love so deeply, I must close this chapter and prepare for the next. I am so immensely grateful to everyone that has put their trust in Soaring Starts, and in me, in these last 4+ years.

While this may come as a surprise, it’s important to note that our current programming is not coming to an immediate stop.

We will continue all programming with our wonderful community partner, Faith Lutheran Preschool, through the end of their academic year. Our Arts Integrated Aftercare Program and our Music Residency will end with the last day of school on Friday, June 13th.

Our weekly class offerings (Curious Creators, Drama Discoveries, and Family Arts & Play) will end with our current semester, with all public programming ending on Saturday, April 12th.

We invite you to join us at the Mothers of North Arlington (MONA) Monthly Social at 11am on Saturday, April 12th at Faith Lutheran Church to say "see you later" to our team and celebrate all we have done together. This free event is happily hosted by MONA for its members. MONA has been integral to our success, as well as an incredible and well-respected resource for Arlington parents for decades. We highly encourage you to check them out.

I'd like to send a special thank you to Trinity Presbyterian Church for creating a kind and welcoming space for us to host our first classes, even as we both navigated new territory during the pandemic and in our post-pandemic world.

I'd like to especially thank Faith Lutheran Preschool and Faith Lutheran Church, the place that we lovingly call home, and where together we have grown several immensely successful educational programs.

I of course would also be absolutely nowhere without my wonderful team of teaching artists, both past and present. Every teacher that has joined my team has been a brilliant artist in their own right. They made magic for their students, and made the work light even when the days were hard. I will never underestimate the beautiful imprint they have made on my and our students' lives.

And to everyone that has ever walked into our classrooms, thank you for helping me create a space where our community's youngest could soar.

This may not be the last time you hear from Soaring Starts, and certainly is not the last time you'll see me working with young families in the NOVA area. Soaring Starts was always successful in what I built it to do from inception. Yet timing is everything, and I've been working within several monumental changes since our founding. These changes did not show up all at once, but have happened at every level - from the large scale, federal level, all the way down to the deeply personal. With these changes, I am now in a place where continuing Soaring Starts' current model would not well serve our families, including my own family, and unfortunately I cannot in good conscience and health continue.

Should you like to talk through this closure, have any questions, or would like to know what's next, my door and email inbox is open at [email protected].

I hope to connect with all of you, or at least say "see you later" very soon. Thank you again for being a part of Soaring Starts' magical 4+ years in Arlington.

With Love and Gratitude,

Stacy Steyaert
(she/her/hers)
Founding Director
Soaring Starts Early Learning & Arts
202-964-0860
[email protected]

The arts are INTEGRAL to creating well-rounded children & communities! 🎨🎭🎶💃

Want to know more? Pop online here:

https://www.amacad.org/publication/case-for-arts-education/section/3

https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-topic/arts-education

https://nasbe.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2020/01/Brown_January-2020-Standard.pdf

Sometimes surprises happen in class, and you’ve just gotta fly with them!! 🐞🦋🕷️

Our team knows that even with strong curriculum guiding us, you can always expect the unexpected in an early childhood classroom. But shocking surprises aren’t bad - they are just new opportunities! Learning together often means capturing the smallest, most unexpected moments and exploring them together.

Whether it’s a bright comment made by one of our students, or an unexpected buggy class guest like the one in this photo, our team is ready.

Our Black History unit in our aftercare program at is wrapping up - and it has been a busy month!

Together we’ve studied legends from Michael Jordan (Basketball Legend), to Mae Jemison (Groundbreaking Engineer and Astronaut), to Savion Glover & Gregory Hines (Tap & Dance Icons), and more! 🏀🚀🪩

Our team is incredibly proud of how our students have come together in this unit. We’ve also loved their thoughtful questions, smart connections, and creative work all February long!

We confidently use dramatic play every day!

Dramatic play is when a child pretends to become someone or something different from themselves. Each chance to become a new character helps us learn to:

🎭 Adjust our bodies and voices with intent & control
🎭 Express ideas or events, verbally or nonverbally
🎭 Use our imaginations to create or problem-solve
🎭 Explore activities outside our own everyday life
🎭 Build comfort in communicating thoughts & ideas

… and much, much more!

Having seen its power firsthand in our classrooms, our team knows to never underestimate the power of pretend play. Need more proof of its positive impact? Jump into a class or take it from our aftercare’s architects, pictured here. 💪🎭✨

Parents & students alike are beaming about Miss Stacy again! ✨

With a Masters in Early Childhood Education and 15+ years of teaching experience, our Founder puts her education to work every day for our team, students, and families.

With the right tools and toys, we can learn most anything! 👗👔💃

Arts classes help young minds learn big new concepts & cultures in playful ways!

This Black History Month, our Aftercare program will be diving into characters and stories of all colors and backgrounds to learn about the world around us. Together we’ll explore what it means to be brave with the story Jabari Jumps, dance it out with famous Black American tap and hip hop icons, and more!

Each lesson together is a gentle invitation to think critically, compassionately, and curiously about our world and history.

Want to know more about how the arts help children understand different cultures and perspectives? Pop online for more here: https://www.amacad.org/publication/case-for-arts-education/section/3

Helping our students feel like royalty, one arts-based activity at a time! 👑✨