It all started with six kids — and one little girl who needed something different.

Vida Kellar never set out to build a school. She was simply a mother doing what mothers do best: finding a way. When her son refused to be a latchkey kid and her daughter was born a micro-preemie, traditional daycare wasn’t an option. The environment wasn’t safe for her fragile immune system, and staying home felt like the only choice. So instead of sending her to daycare, she brought daycare to her.

What began as a temporary solution — “just one more year” — quickly became something bigger. Friends trusted her with their children. Learning filled the house. Play turned into purpose. And before she knew it, a small group of children had formed a tight-knit community of explorers who proudly named themselves The Cool Kids — a name born from constant discovery and joyful curiosity.

Those early days were filled with imagination and hands-on learning. They grew vegetables and became farmers. They planted elephant ears so they could live in the jungle and watch them sway in the breeze. They churned butter while dreaming about prairie life — skills and memories the children still carry with them today. Every lesson was rooted in curiosity, creativity, and the belief that children learn best when they’re allowed to wonder. At the heart of it all was a deep belief in the village. Learning didn’t happen in isolation — it happened through community, conversation, and shared experience. There was always someone who knew something new, and together, they learned from one another.

In 2019, that village found a new home when the learning center moved into its first building — just before the world changed. Through uncertainty, one thing remained constant: the feeling inside those walls. It still feels like home. Like going to your big mama’s house. A place where children feel loved, safe, and deeply seen.

Walk through the doors and you can feel it — the warmth, the care, the belief that every child matters. It’s the kind of place that tells children, “You are special. You belong here. You can do anything.”

More than ever, Vida believes deeply in education — but also in childhood. In letting kids be kids. In protecting their mental health and overall wellbeing. In staying hands-on, asking questions, experimenting, and learning as you go. Curiosity, she believes, is a superpower. If we don’t ask, we don’t grow.

That philosophy extends to her teachers, too. She gives them room to teach from their hearts, their values, and their lived experiences — knowing that when educators are trusted, children thrive. Thoughtfully planned activities grow naturally from that freedom, creating classrooms filled with intention, joy, and love.

This learning center wasn’t built from a business plan. It was built from love, necessity, imagination, and a village. And that spirit still lives here — every day in every classroom.