I have been stopped many times in the grocery store by people with the same questions, “What happened to the Cedar Program?” and, “Why didn’t people sign their kids up in the fall?” So, since there has been some concern and interest, I thought I’d write a letter.

First of all, good news! We didn’t disappear. Now, the second question of why we seemingly abandoned the program has so many answers. Perhaps the simplest answer is to say that the Cedar Program that the Coupeville School District put forward was Cedar in name only and it no longer met the needs of our kids.

We have moved on and we are growing. Many of us formed a co-op and we were able to hire all of our teachers back. Some of us have enrolled through the OASIS program on Orcas Island which is paying our contract teachers. Some of us are chipping in on a per class basis. However we have decided to proceed, we are working together.

Some old faces have returned and we are picking up new faces as time goes along. Currently, we have close to 40 kids from kindergarten through eighth grade and we are covering all the bases from reading readiness to writing to science to art, music and mastering mathematics. Our class size ranges from four to 12 students. What we are doing is exciting with great potential. I would love to share more details but it would make for a very long letter. We have an amazing pool of professional, highly educated teachers and parent volunteers all pulling together to offer a rich well-rounded selection of courses. We are intentionally designing a program which will give the children the foundation they need to be successful.

Now that we are up and running, we are turning our attention toward next fall. We are collecting input and planning to add some very exciting things that the kids will need, like computer programming. As with the old Cedar program, there are so many ways to be involved full or part time. If you would like to know more about what we are doing now, or be a part of putting together the offerings for next fall, please feel free to come to an informational meeting Wednesday, Jan. 25 at the Coupeville library from 7 to 8 p.m. The library has asked that we ask you to park in the lower lot please. If you can’t make the meeting but want to know more please e-mail me at pbruland@gmail.com. We hope that you will be able to join us.

Patricia Bruland

Coupeville