Teaching with Love and Care: An Alternative Learning Experience Balances Business with Compassion
“We don't call ourselves a school. We are an enrichment learning experience,” Catrice Dennis, Director and Facilitator of Learning at Teaching with Love and Care, said. (Photo courtesy of Dennis)
By Mead Gill
Catrice Dennis, the self-proclaimed melanated Miss Frizzle, operates her mobile classroom Teaching with Love and Care (TLC) from a shuttle bus based in Federal Way. With the help of her daughter Asiyah Davis, Dennis brings her passion for nature and experiential learning to young children and parents who struggle with aspects of traditional education.
For the past seven years, Dennis has prioritized making TLC accessible to all demographics and financial situations, looking to find harmony between accessibility and turning a profit in Seattle’s taxing economy.
Finding the Missing Piece
Before opening TLC in 2018, Dennis developed her passion for alternative learning while getting her Master’s degree in education. Her love for children led her to working at the Boys & Girls Club, youth centers, after school programs, and charter schools where she realized something was missing in standard teaching curriculums.
“It didn't matter where I was at, there was always a child or children who were hurting,” Dennis said. “And their mental and emotional state was getting in the way of their actual academics and their learning process.”
Dennis reflected on young boy she worked with before starting TLC, who, when asked why he was upset, replied, “I can’t read Ms. Dennis.” When Dennis would ask children in her class to speak positively about themselves, some would cry because they could not think of a single nice thing to say at the age of five or six. Heartbroken and determined, she decided to take the issue into her own hands.
“Children were not doing well as far as their self-esteem and how they viewed themselves, so I said I'm going to create a space where that is our focal point. And that's what I did,” Dennis said.
The pattern Dennis observed in children’s self-esteem helped build the foundation of TLC, prioritizing mental health and positive emotional reinforcement. Students start every day at TLC by repeating their personal affirmations to set the framework for a successful day of learning.
“Academics are important, but how we feel inside is number one. So, if we're not feeling good and we're dealing with all this other stuff…we don't know how to navigate our lives,” she said.
Dennis leans over a shark tank with a student in San Diego as a part of TLC’s World Immersion Program last summer. (Photo courtesy of Dennis)
The Traveling Teacher
TLC began in a brick and mortar location in Federal Way, until the financial ramifications of Covid forced the program to move out. Dennis’ solution was to relocate TLC to a shuttle bus, which incorporated an element of freedom and mobility that she felt the business was missing.
“When I started in the brick and mortar, I always knew I wanted to provide experiences for the children and I didn't necessarily just want to stay in the building,” Dennis said, explaining that Covid was a blessing for her and the business’ ability to bring real life experiences to students outside of the typical classroom.
Now TLC is fully operated out of a mobile classroom where learning is made to be an adventure, giving students and families the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and experience new aspects of culture and lifestyle together, Dennis said.
“It's been a way to expose not just the children but…the families as well [to] what's right in your backyard, what's in your community,” Dennis said. “So that has been a beautiful part of our learning experience.”
Curating Enrichment Learning Experiences
With her extensive familiarity working and educating kids, Dennis started building teaching curriculums around engaging activities and adventures she called enrichment learning experiences. The goal for these experiences is to expose children to new aspects of culture and lifestyle that cater to their individual interests, like the theater, Pacific Northwest Nature, gymnastics, and horseback riding.
“A lot of our children are being robbed of these joyful experiences. And I am going to use the word rob because a lot of them are just sitting and not experiencing the joy and the love that comes with just being children,” Dennis said, referring to the conventional education system where kids sit in a classroom all day.
Dennis also developed a World Immersion Program that incorporates worldschooling, combining travel with TLC’s signature experiential learning. The World Immersion cohort from last summer took the train to San Diego, an opportunity exposing them to new environments outside of Federal Way.
Dennis (left) poses with students and parents during a horseback riding excursion. (Photo courtesy of Dennis)
A Financial and Emotional Dilemma
Ensuring that TLC is an inclusive space for everyone has been a priority for Dennis since her organization began. But through upholding the value of inclusion at the forefront, Dennis is faced with a dilemma: how can she turn a profit while still finding ways for all families to participate and benefit from what TLC has to offer?
“The struggle for me is how to balance the two out,” Dennis said. “This is my source of income as well as a real heart centered thing for me and I don't ever want to tell anybody ‘no you cannot be here.’”
Having to watch some families go back into the public school system because they could not afford TLC has been hard for Dennis to watch. For years TLC’s tuition covered no more than the experiential activities in the curriculum in order to stay as accessible as possible to as many families as possible.
“I'm charging enough to pay for the classes and not necessarily for our services,” Dennis said. “...How do we navigate that space without having to change the total demographics?”
Optimizing Access for Marginalized Communities
Providing accessible alternative learning for marginalized communities is a reason why Dennis has remained as financially inclusive as possible for so long, not wanting her class demographics to shift with higher tuition.
“The biggest obstacle has really been I've been trying to reach and support marginalized communities and children…who are the most impacted by the current school system,” Dennis said, validated by both data and her lived teaching experience.
Rebuilding Better Than Ever
Currently, TLC is rebuilding their program in search of new students and parents excited to engage in TLC’s parent-led learning approach. Dennis described this approach as an opportunity for parents to take the lead of their child’s learning experience. In practice, the approach requires families and teachers to collaborate in developing the ideal learning experience for each individual student.
Dennis referenced an upward trend in parental involvement in education due to the dramatic rise of homeschooling as a result of Covid. With this in mind, Dennis is confident that more families will take to the parent-led learning approach.
“I know that there is that shift of more families being able to not feel so fearful or nervous about taking that lead for their child,” Dennis said. “So, I guess it's all just about us getting in alignment with the right families.”
“Academics are important, but how we feel inside is number one,” Dennis said. (Photo courtesy of Dennis.)
Striving for a Brick and Mortar Establishment
As Dennis and Davis continue spreading their passion for children with the community, their end goal is to move back into a brick and mortar location in Federal Way while remaining a mobile learning opportunity with the shuttle bus.
“Eventually we would like to have both,” Dennis said, admitting that they have a long way to go to achieve this goal.
Dennis called for more conversations to be had about alternative learning, and for parents and community members alike to stay open minded. She wears her passion and values on her sleeve, and now she needs the community’s support in reaching likeminded families who resonate with what TLC stands for.
Federal Way, WA 98003
Email: hello@teachingwithloveandcare.com
Phone: (206) 649-2727
Instagram: @tlcmagical_schoolbus
This article is part of Converge Media’s Support Black Business Campaign. Please click here to learn more and support!
