I am the Director, Leslie Shaw.

I graduated from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. After graduation, I taught Kindergarten, First Grade and Second Grade in various cities across the country. We moved six times in ten years and by 2002, I was ready to move back home. When an opportunity became available to come to Kansas City, we were excited to be closer to friends and family.

At that time, my boys were 3 and 4 and ready for preschool. I asked my neighbors for suggestions and heard about Red Bridge ECC. We toured the school, and I quickly understood why this program in South Kansas City came so highly recommended. Between the warm and nurturing teachers, the focus on play and learning in the classrooms, and the joy you could see in the students, I knew this was where I wanted my boys to attend.

In 2005, I became the director of ECC. I can look back over the last 20 years and recognize how fortunate I was to have found this wonderful preschool as a start for my children’s education and for my career in Early Childhood Education.