PHONE & VOICEMAIL: 907-563-7840

2222 East Tudor Road Anchorage, AK 99507

St. Mary's Episcopal Church was founded in this still largely rural area of Anchorage in 1954. Thirteen years later, a few of its members saw the need for a part-time enrichment program for the city's increasing number of preschool aged children. In 1967 the St. Mary's Creative Playschool, now named The Playschool at St Mary's, opened its doors to 3, 4, & 5 year olds with the mission to foster children's creativity through play. It was one of the very first of its kind to open in the entire state of Alaska and is currently the oldest running preschool in the state. Over 55 years later, in spite of our increasingly fast paced, high-tech and overscheduled world, "the power of Play" still holds true.

The Playschool has always greatly relied upon parental involvement and support from the community at large. Adults who volunteer their time are often treated to finding their own "inner-child" re-emerging. After all, who can resist wearing pajamas out of the house and eating breakfast in the middle of the afternoon for Pancake Day? Imagine how much fun one has when asked to bring his own flashlight in order to have class in the dark on Flashlight Day. When fresh snow blankets the sledding hill we can assure you it is not just the children who race to the top and fly down, often head first, at mach speed. It is here at the The Playschool at St Mary's where Children learn and adults are reminded of the importance of breaking routines every now and then ...of looking at an otherwise ordinary day from a new perspective...and most importantly, that we do not stop playing because we have grown old, but we grow old when we stop playing.