WonderHere is Bigger & Better Than Ever… see for yourself!
(Photos included in blog…this one is a must read!)
We have been so quiet on the blog front lately, but that is because we have been busy working on all that is behind the doors at 115 SF Ave! It is no secret that we have well-loved our space at 111 SF Ave, but we quickly outgrew that square footage before we closed the books on our first year in business. We shared with you all last spring that we would be expanding to add an indoor play studio and urban garden, and we haven’t had a moment to stop and update you on our progress since that announcement. So, guys… it’s here! We are in our newly expanded space and can’t even remember what we ever did without it! WonderHere is better than ever before!
There were bumps along the way.
When opening a company as innovative as WonderHere, we knew classifying it properly through the city would be a challenge. Along the way, a few mistakes were made by the city that surfaced when we began to expand. This discovery nearly tripled our renovation budget and delayed our project 2 months. There were many tears shed, many meetings held with various city officials, and a lot of learning done on both sides. WonderHere is stronger for it and it appears we have even helped make positive changes that will improve the process for other companies coming behind us. To make a long story short (we will have to do another blog just on all that went down), this summer has been a growing one for us… in more ways than one!
Advocates who were working for us.
There are specific leaders in our community who were an integral part in the success of our expansion… Julie Townsend from the LDDA, Dan Gargas from the City of Lakeland Building Division, and Meg Bellamy from Catapult to name a few! These and several others were instrumental in keeping our business operating through the summer, made phone calls and held meetings that literally changed the posture of key city officials in our favor, and encouraged us onward when we were unsure. We would be publishing a very different blog if it weren’t for these and others who believed in our small business and made others believe too.
What’s behind door #2?
Now, the wait is no longer! Behold the beauty that awaits you behind the doors at suite we expanded into at 113 SF Ave. Special thanks to Meghan Hill for photo credit (www.meganhillphoto.com)!
A huge thanks to Brad Harvey for installing these awesome swings!
This beautiful chalk wall was designed and created by the wonderful Becky Yohe from Art Centric Studio, who we’re also immensely blessed to have as our studio art teacher! (www.artcentricstudio.com)
So much thanks to Jason Jennings and Mike Hrubes for building our wonderful playset!
Thanks Latisha, Teresa, and Mackenzie for helping assemble our kitchen space!
Local artist and WonderHere dad Bump Galletta ROCKS! We love this custom designed mural he did for us! (www.bumpgalletta.com)
Thank you Dana Ries for helping to execute the vision for our Maker Space!
Urban Garden…say what?
We have the fence, but here is what’s to come! The next project on our radar is the building out of our dreamed about Urban Garden. Although we wished we would have had it completed by now, it seems that the delay was a blessing in disguise… as Hurricane Irma probably would not have been too kind to the installation of our whimsical outdoor play space.
Our website has also received a facelift.
Have you visited our website lately? If not, please take a moment to look through it and click around. We have intentionally designed the site to be more parent-friendly, more informative for those of you who are unfamiliar with who and what WonderHere is, and simplified to match our studio’s aesthetic.
Are you apart of the WonderHere Movement? If not… we need YOU!
See for yourself! Schedule a personal tour to learn more about our educational philosophy and how we can help you make a positive impact on how your child views learning. Purchase a Play Pass and enjoy indoor play times held on Mondays and Fridays. Schedule a birthday party with us and have our studio and staff all to yourself! Drop your children off at Kids’ Night Out and let them experience what the fuss is all about! Or email us at info@wonderhere.com so that we can open a dialogue with you personally.
Special thanks to our dedicated WH Families
And we cannot conclude this blog without giving a special shout-out to our faithful families that have loved us and stuck with us through this expansion. So many of these amazing moms and dads painted walls, laid floors, cleaned, and cleaned some more… all to make this expansion a reality. Those families that loved WonderHere before we even had a building, those that loved WonderHere when our building was too small, and those that love WonderHere still as we continue to develop and figure it out. These moms and dads and kiddos are the only reason we exist and the reason our team stays up late at night dreaming of what’s next, about what more we can do to serve our families and this community. Thank you all for your commitment to your child’s education and for choosing WonderHere as a place and community to partner with in your homeschooling journey. We are truly blessed and cannot wait for what else is in store! Stick around… we aren’t finished yet. Not even close!
