Rising Stars Preschool

It was in 2003 that Kristi Otteni put the bug in the ear of Shawna James and Christy Walsworth to start a Preschool in La Pine. They gave it some thought and opened Rising Stars Preschool with 24 kids and a long waiting list, in 2004. Christy and Shawna both had worked with Kristi Otteni in the LaPine Community Campus.  Christy worked for Great Start preschool which was apart of ESD.  Shawna worked for Deschuttes/Crook Head Start. Christy started out as our first teacher/office administrator and was the only paid employee.  The program required parents to volunteer a day in the class to be Christy's assistant. Shawna was the first board president from 2004 to 2007.  In 2006 Christy stepped into the position of the director/ office assistant and we hired a teacher to replace her.  In 2009 Christy stepped back into the classroom as a co-teacher and Shawna stepped into the position as the director/office administrator.  In 2014 Christy saddly left Rising Stars to be with her children more before they leave for college.  Shawna saddly left the program in 2015 when she relocated to another state due to husband's job. We have strived to keep the preschool offerable for families since the start!  We have tried to offer scholarships to those in need.  We've strechted when we had a need for 3 classes and decresased back to two classes when the need was no longer there. We have always strived to follow what is best practices for young children using the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) as our guide.

Board of Directors:

President: Kathie Driscoll

Secretary : Val Best

Treasurer: Cindy Aarron

Member: Shannon Walsworth

Member: Kym Johnson

Member: Crystal Moreales