A new nature-based, holistic learning center for children ages 8-11, Roots Learning Center, is set to open in Fall 2026 in Port Orchard near Long Lake.
The learning center blends core academics with enrichment and life skills, aimed at providing children with social-emotional learning, arts, and practical daily skills. “This is what South Kitsap needs,” said founder and co-director of Roots, Leslie Ashby. “Children will be able to move through skills at their own rate, versus the rate of their age, grade, or when the whole class is ready.”
The center pursues breaking the boundaries of the typical classroom experience, targeting students who need to move, explore the outdoors, and want to think for themselves. “Families need access to holistic education because what we’ve been doing for decades isn’t meeting children’s developmental needs. Too often, students are expected to conform to rigid curricula and standards instead of learning environments being designed around how children actually grow, think, and engage,” said Ashby. “Research and lived experience have shown for a long time that this approach limits curiosity, motivation, and meaningful learning.”
Co-director Kim Burns shared how she struggled in school growing up and was inspired to create a learning environment where children don’t quietly fall through the cracks. “Roots was born from the desire to create something different. It will be a place where learning is built around the child, where differences are understood and supported, and where students are taught how to understand themselves as learners,” she said.
Experiences with her children not getting the support they need also led Burns and business partner Ashby to create Roots. “That understanding deepened as I watched my own neurodivergent children struggle in the current system,” said Burns. “Again, the focus was on meeting benchmarks and percentages rather than seeing the whole child. My son was diagnosed with dyslexia and still denied the specialized, structured instruction he needed to learn to read in the way his brain required. That experience pushed me to deepen my own learning so I could better support him and the many students I was seeing struggle under curriculum models that weren’t flexible or responsive.”
With a variety of lessons in the curriculum, Ashby and Burns are hopeful that their learning center will foster an environment of growth. Students at Roots will learn from both direct instruction from a teacher as well as independent research and small groups with other classmates. “Students will have the freedom to fluidly move through each skill in the way that works best for them,” said Ashby. “Enrichment follows with practical life skills (gardening, cooking, etc), yoga, art, personal passion projects where students can use their own inquiries to guide their learning, community projects, visits from community partners, and most of all-outdoor education.”
The learning center is set to open in September and run through June, operating Tuesday through Friday, unusual from the typical Monday through Friday public school system schedule. “The current systems take us away from our families, leave us exhausted and burnt out by the time breaks occur. However, we want students to be with their families more than they are with us. This makes for healthier whole individuals for staff and students alike,” Ashby and Burns shared.
For its first year of operation, Roots has 40 spots available for children ages 8 through 11. In the future, Roots hopes to expand by creating a program for ages 12-15. Before opening in the fall, Roots will be hosting an open house in the spring, so families can tour the facility and learn more about the program.
