About The Great Spokane Art Party

Beginning in 2007, Blue Prints for Learning has teamed up with local artists to provide an evening of art experience for adults, featuring wine, hors d'oevres, and hands on art exploration. This event is a critical fundraiser as well as a celebration of the Community Building Children's Center Art Studio.

Blue Prints for Learning invites your participation in our ongoing work to directly help our youngest children--infants, toddlers and preschoolers--develop the foundational skills, attitudes and values to become successful in school and life.

Blue Prints for Learning is a nonprofit (501-C3) organization working to increase the quality of child care in our community. Blue Prints for Learning offers two programs: a high quality child care program (Community Building Children's Center) and the Child Care Training Institute. The Training Institute's programs are focused on improving the quality of care provided at local child care centers through increasing the skills and knowledge of the providers throughout the Spokane area. The Training Institute offers coarses as an approved State Training and Registry System (S.T.A.R.S) agency and teaches the nationaly recognized Child Development Associate (CDA) credential program. Our innovative year-long CDA program has been offered for eight years and access to this course is highly prized by center directors, because it such high quality training and directors can see immediate positive gains in their staff taking the class. The Children's Center operates as a working model for our Training Institute much like a lab school functions on a college campus.

The "quality" in "quality child care" is the teachers who work with children and families. Even those with advanced degrees in Early Childhood Education are paid one third the salary of their couterparts in public education. Yet recent research indicates that the foundation of a person's success in life is formed within the blueprint of the first five years. It only makes sense that investments in early childhood education, training, staff development and best practice should be a priority for our community.

The financial reality of the true cost of quality child care is that it is not a viable business. The cost of caring for children is much higher than what parents in our region can afford. The Community Building Children's Center reflects the economic reality of child care, the implications of nonprofit status for the industry, and the kind of effort needed to secure addtional funding through grants, donations and fund raising efforts. Without additional funding beyond our core budget, we would not have the opportunities we need to fulfill our vision and mission in the community.

Our mission is to support young children, their families, and the staff who care for them in child care settings through the development of environments that foster friendship, curiosity, self esteem, joy and respect; where everyone's talents are fully challenged and recognized.