Aldrich groundbreaking becomes play date

Groundbreakings don’t usually become play sites, but that’s exactly what happened Saturday at Aldrich Memorial Nursery School .

Minutes after officials of the school turned shovels of dirt to launch an expansion project, kids were climbing on the hill of soil and picking at it with shovels.

That isn’t considered unusual at Aldrich where, as parent and board member Georg von Bormann said, "The philosophy of Aldrich is learning through play."

The 2,200-square-foot addition, construction of which will begin June 5, will house two additional classrooms and a library. The work will be done by the first day of school at the end of summer. The addition will, in part, answer a space crunch at the school in northwest Rochester.

"Our 2-year-olds are sharing a space in one classroom, and we want to give them their own space," said Jessica Paolini, Aldrich director. Plus, she said, an increasing number of families, with both parents working, are looking for a place for their kids to be for longer than the half-day programs traditionally offered by Aldrich.

"We’ve had to adjust our use of space," Paolini said. "We’re still really trying to maintain the educational aspect of our program, as opposed to a day care. But we want to give our families options."

"This doesn’t look like a day care," von Bormann said. "It runs like a school."

Aldrich had its beginnings in 1944 when Dr. C.A. Aldrich, a Mayo Clinic pediatrician, was commissioned to study the intellectual, emotional and social needs of preschool children. Aldrich died in 1949, and in 1952, what had been the Demonstration Nursery School was renamed Aldrich Memorial Nursery School in his honor.

The current building, at 855 Essex Parkway, opened in 1991, and was expanded for the first time in 1999.

Now, with 168 youngsters in the building at any one time, a total enrollment of 380, and a waiting list, it’s time to expand again.

"Families really appreciate our education philosophy," Paolini said. "They recognize the value. They see how successful their kids are when they leave for school."

As a parent, von Bormann said he has seen that philosophy at work in his son.

"He has blossomed here in terms of relationships," von Bormann said. "When you see how kids learn to cooperate while playing, you realize how many life skills they’re learning."

Groundbreaking for the new addition was part of the annual Aldrich carnival, which gave kids and their parents an opportunity to play games, tour a fire truck and police car, and take part in other activities — all under a bright sun on one of the first warm days of the year.