Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Bickham and Hailey Bickham.
Kyle and Hailey, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
If you’d told us we would own a preschool five years ago, we would have laughed, parenthood has a way of shaping a moving your path forward and we wouldn’t change it for the world. As parents, we wanted our own children to thrive and develop a life long love for learning. We’re both idealists, so when we searched for the right preschool in East Dallas, we struggled to find something that checked all the boxes. We believe parents shouldn’t have to choose between a fulfilling career and the peace of mind that their children are receiving the quality of care that is so important at an early age. So, we teamed up with education experts to do our best to create an ideal learning environment.
Some foundational non-negotiables are: that every kid is deeply loved and valued, a beautiful atmosphere free from visual clutter, great communication with parents, tons of outdoor time, a garden, and amazing teachers. We don’t pretend to have it all figured out but have loved the journey so far and are so humbled and honored to partner with parents in loving and teaching kids well.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This is without a doubt, the hardest thing we’ve ever done. We found the perfect building in March of 2018 and knew that we would have to work around the clock to have the space ready to open in August. Every minor setback seemed like the end for us, especially when it came time for the city to inspect our space. The week before we opened, we had no less than five officials tell us that we couldn’t open unless we spent tens of thousands of dollars to make an obscure improvement to the building, only to have them come back and explain that they’d misinterpreted the code and that we could move forward.
We also grew so much having to navigate the launch of a new venture with two children under the age of four. There were plenty of tearful moments when we felt that we weren’t able to give our kids the time and attention they needed. We had to come to grips with the fact that our children are a crucial part of our journey, not a roadblock. When we think back on our launch story, our sweetest moments include laying the kids down for a nap in one of the classrooms while we worked, dancing with them when we “should” have been working, and explaining to our oldest that Mommy and Daddy were working to give him the “best school ever!” (His words).
The most challenging aspect of serving customers as a new business has also been the greatest lesson learned. When you’re a shiny new school, you’re tempted to appear that you have it all together. Any upset customer seems like the end of the world. We had to learn that customers give a tremendous amount of grace if you’re simply vulnerable with them about the problems you’re facing and what you’re working hard to serve them.
Please tell us about The Modern Tot Preschool.
We started The Modern Tot to give parents the peace of mind that their child is being given meaningful experiences and cared for by amazing teachers. The learning environment is one of the most important aspects of this, so we chose to prioritize a beautiful design from the start. Space has plenty of natural light, minimizes visual clutter, and includes a peaceful color scheme to help children thrive. Our outdoor space is geared toward continuing education and discovery. In our garden, students cultivate life and learn practical life skills with our gardening teacher and tend to each season’s crops. The outdoor space also includes an open field for games and a 40 foot covered space where students can play and explore at sand and water tables, as well as exciting group activities.
We’re also proud to say that we have one of the best early education teams in Dallas. We hire teachers carefully, looking for three character traits: Curiosity, Passion, and Fun. For us, it’s a non-negotiable that a child knows they can trust, learn from, and laugh with their teacher,
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Kyle- I was eight years old when my family took our first trip to the ocean for a week. I remember being fascinated with the endless horizon, spending most of my time on the beach just staring as far as I could. I had never felt so free. The only thing that distracted me from the view was my Dad recruiting me to help build a massive sandcastle. He was so enthusiastic about what we were building that I couldn’t help but lose myself in the work, After at least eight hours of building, we had constructed a masterpiece that stood well over my shoulders. People stopped to take pictures with the castle until sundown, and I’ve never been more proud of something I made with my hands.
Hailey- It’s so hard to narrow this down… fun family vacations, come to mind for sure, but a common theme for me growing up was being an absolute *ham* with my older sister. She talked me into going along with many shenanigans including giving our cat a bath, cutting my dad’s feather pillow and dumping all the feathers on her floor (which our parents say has more feather’s than you can imagine), shooting countless Britney Spears + Spice girls music videos, and her buying me a baby duck in middle school, and since we lived nowhere near a farm or pond we kept the little guy, (Eugene) in our bathtub. Our parents really fanned our flames and let us truly discover, dream and be our true selves. I will forever be impacted by this.
Pricing:
- Monday-Friday care: $1135/month
- Monday/Wednesday/Friday care: $785/month
- Tuesday/Thursday care: $615/month
Contact Info:
- Address: 10801 Garland Rd
Dallas, TX 75218 - Website: themoderntot.com
- Phone: 469-399-7100
- Email: info@themoderntot.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/the.moderntot
- Facebook: facebook.com/the.moderntot
- Yelp: yelp.com/the-modern-tot-dallas
Image Credit:
Lewis Fertitta, Lauren Nelson, Zayne Grantham
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