Sustainability

Flance Early Learning Center is a 2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School. We are intentional in raising environmental consciousness in our community through partnerships and on our campus through practice. By providing our staff, children, and families with resources and education, we seek to catalyze change in our communities toward healthier lifestyles and sustainability.

We encourage our families to make healthy life choices. Our chef prepares nourishing meals, including daily batches of homemade baby food, which incorporate a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Our programming includes nutrition education, gardening and composting, physical activities, outdoor playtime, and health-based professional development for staff.

Our Building

Flance Early Learning Center is the largest center in Downtown St. Louis and was built with LEED Certification in mind. Our educators are committed to using our center as a teaching tool in providing a green-oriented, age-appropriate curriculum.

Flance Building Fun Facts:

  • 90% of our spaces use natural light to bring the “outside in,” saving energy and providing sunlight for both work and play.

  • Every classroom space has access to our outdoor play area.

  • Over half of our open space is vegetated with regionally appropriate or water efficient plants.

  • The interior spaces of our state-of-the-art facility are designed and decorated with elements inspired by the natural world.

Flance Sustainability Highlights:

Experiential Learning

In partnership with Urban Harvest, Flance Pre-K students attend weekly garden lessons, during which they learn how to plant, water, harvest, and nurture a variety of produce in our 20-raised bed garden. The garden itself is used as a teaching tool to encourage consumption of healthy, whole foods. When students aren’t directly working in the garden, they are cooking or creating delicious treats with produce that they have helped grow, and participating in activities that inspire a love and appreciation for the natural world.

Alternative Agriculture

In December 2021, Flance introduced a hydroponic system thanks to the American Heart Association’s Healthy Way to Grow program. The hydroponics system teaches water conservation, alternative agriculture techniques, and how plants grow. Harvested produce from the hydroponic system goes directly to our kitchen or is sent home with Flance Families.

Locally-Sourced Produce

Flance has made intentional changes and prioritized purchasing locally-grown produce, which supports and strengthens our community and regional economy. In collaboration with our AmeriCorps VISTA Sustainability Specialist and Chef, Flance now orders approximately 90% of our produce from a nearby farm. We are thrilled to support family-owned farms and ensure our students and staff are receiving high-quality and nutritious meals.

Cob Bench

As a part of Flance’s Fall ABC Day (Arts and Building Community), Flance families, staff, volunteers, and community members came together to build a cob bench. “Cob” is a building material consisting of soil, clay, and hay; the bench has an armature of bottle “bricks” made from non-recyclable material collected from the surrounding neighborhood. Thank you to the community for their efforts, and especially to PNC Foundation for its generous donation, which enabled this wonderful addition to Flance’s outdoor classroom.

Outdoor Classroom

As of October 2023, Flance’s Outdoor Classroom was recognized as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom by the Nature Explorer Program. The Outdoor Classroom intentionally extends learning opportunities into the outdoors by incorporating interactive and open-ended materials that foster creativity, imagination, and initiative in children. Aspects of the outdoor classroom include dedicated areas for music and movement, nature art, building, dirt and sensory exploration, gross motor play, water play and garden education. Learn more about Flance’s Outdoor Classroom here.