Branches Atelier - Education That Dreams For The Future

Branches Atelier Fund

Branches Atelier is a Reggio Inspired center in Culver City, CA. Providing education for preschoolers, parents and educators.

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Branches Atelier - Education That Dreams For The Future - Preschool, Parent and me classes, Community.
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Support The Branches Atelier Fund

Thank you for visiting our giving page. The Branches Atelier Fund allows friends to make tax-deductible donations to support Branches Atelier and our community.

Branches Professional Development -Branches Atelier is committed to ongoing Branches teacher and staff professional development opportunities.

At Branches Atelier, we believe that inspired teachers create inspirational classrooms. Our goal is to cultivate excellent, challenging learning environments where children can thrive and grow. To achieve this, we recognize the importance of investing in our educators through high-quality continuous professional development opportunities.

Contributions from generous supporters like you enable our dedicated staff to participate in educational conferences, workshops, seminars, and ongoing education, including and extending beyond early childhood education courses. We are also able to work with experts from the schools in Reggio Emilia. These experiences not only enhance their skills and knowledge but also empower our teachers to implement innovative practices that directly benefit our students and create a community of lifelong learners.

We invite you to partner with us in this important endeavor. Your support will help us ensure that our teachers are equipped with the latest tools and strategies to inspire their students. Together, we can create a brighter future for theteachers, children, and families in our Branches community.

Branches' Community Professional Development Initiatives - For over 18 years, Branches has been dedicated to providing high-quality early childhood education beyond the walls of our school, rooted in the belief that every child deserves an exceptional learning experience.

Our commitment extends beyond our classrooms; we are passionate about sharing our knowledge and practices with educators across the United States and abroad. To achieve this, we host an annual two-day Early Childhood Education (ECE) conference, attracting 200 to 300 educators each year. This event serves as a platform for collaboration, learning, and inspiration, equipping educators with the latest research and effective teaching strategies they can bring back to their classrooms.

In addition to our conference, we offer a variety of ongoing professional development opportunities, including on-site workshops, seminars, online classes and consulting. These programs are designed to empower educators, foster community, and ultimately enhance the quality of education that children receive.

To continue and expand these vital initiatives, we are seeking ongoing funding. This funding will help us cover the costs of organizing our annual conference, facilitating workshops, and developing new online resources that reach educators in underserved areas.

Your support will play a crucial role in creating a brighter future for children by investing in the professional growth of their educators. Together, with your support we can make a lasting impact on the early childhood education landscape.

FAMILY RESOURCES

Branches' Financial Aid and Scholarships

At Branches, we firmly believe that every child deserves access to excellent preschool education, regardless of financial circumstances. Our mission is to ensure that no child is excluded from the opportunities that quality early childhood education provides.

As we strive to create an inclusive and diverse learning environment, we recognize that many families face financial challenges that can hinder their ability to enroll their children in preschool. To address this issue, we are seeking funding to establish scholarships and financial aid programs for families in need.

Your support would enable us to offer tuition assistance to deserving families, ensuring that all children can experience the benefits of early education. By investing in our scholarship program, you would be playing a vital role in promoting equity and diversity within our community.

Help us make a difference in the lives of children and families in our community.

Branches Emergency fund

At Branches Atelier, we believe in fostering a nurturing environment for our families and staff. Unfortunately, life can present unexpected challenges that put a strain on our community members. Our Emergency Fund is dedicated to providing financial assistance in times of crisis, whether that be through tuition support or other forms of aid.

By contributing to the Emergency Fund, you can help us ensure that families and staff can access the resources they need during difficult times. Your generosity will enable us to continue supporting our community and upholding the values we all cherish. Your contributions can make a significant impact. Thank you for considering this opportunity to help our community thrive.

Branches Parent Workshops, Classes and Seminars

Our mission is to support families in their parenting journeys by providing them with valuable resources and insights.

We believe that equipping parents with the right tools and knowledge can lead to healthier family dynamics and stronger communities. To enhance our offerings, we plan to invite guest speakers who are experts in various fields of parenting, child development, and family wellness. These workshops will cover a range of topics, from effective communication and discipline strategies to mental health and well-being.

We anticipate that these sessions will not only empower parents but also foster a sense of community among families.However, to bring in these esteemed speakers and cover necessary materials, we are seeking funding to help offset the costs.

We would be grateful for any support you can provide, whether through financial contributions or resources. Yourinvestment will directly impact the lives of families in our community, helping them thrive in their parenting roles.

Your contribution of any amount enables us to continue to inspire the growth of our Branches Atelier teachers, children and their families and support, ECE teachers and families with young children. Thank you in advance for your support of our mission.

-~- OUR PHILOSOPHY -~-

Branches Atelier is committed to creating high-quality, creative, dynamic, educational programs for children, families and educators. We are a social constructivist program, inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.

Based on our fundamental belief that children learn best when their work is meaningful and in a social context, we integrate all areas of curriculum though short-term explorations and long-term projects. Children are viewed as protagonists in their learning and are encouraged to work in collaboration with their peers to co-construct new theories and ideas.

The role of our teachers is to extend and deepen children’s ideas and theories. Through careful observation, documentation, thoughtful questions and deep reflections, our teachers work in partnership with the children to negotiate curriculum, extend thinking and develop explorations. Our teachers are life long learners who continue to research contemporary child development theories. Attending conferences, workshops and classes supports our teachers’ commitment to integrating new research into their daily practice.

We have an extensive media program that encompasses a wide range of materials and symbolic languages. The children use the various media to communicate their ideas, develop their theories and deepen their learning.

Our children are not given traditional preschool materials such as play dough, construction paper and prepackaged collage materials. Instead they are offered a wide range of artist-quality mixed media materials including clay, pastels, weaving materials, beadwork and natural materials in addition to canvases and beautiful papers for use with various types of paint and collage.

“Materials are the text of early childhood classrooms. They offer openings and pathways by which children can enter the world of knowledge.”

We are influenced by the work of various artists such as Goldsworthy, Calder, Matisse and O’Keefe whose work we observe in books and photographs. In the atelier, the children’s work is displayed for further inspiration: clay leaves and tempera butterflies hang from the ceiling, wirework of DNA and kinesthetic sculptures adorn the space.

We see children as active, vital participants who contribute to our community. As part of our curriculum, we visit Temescal Canyon, Tanaka Strawberry Farm, Underwood Family Pumpkin Farm and farmers markets. We believe that extending our curriculum into the community allows the children to become more connected to their community and the community to become more connected to our children.

We understand and value the importance of children having time to connect with nature. Our beautiful outdoor environments give children time to explore nature through immersive experiences with clay, sand, water, natural materials and gardening. These experiences are set up to encourage children to connect with each other, develop peer relationships and make meaningful connections with natural world. Our environment has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a School Yard Habitat.

Research has shown that early experiences in programs such as Branches Atelier, improves children’s abilities to develop socially, intellectually and emotionally before they enter kindergarten, and that children who attend high-quality preschools like Branches will have more successful academic careers and develop the social skills necessary to adapt more easily to an elementary school environment.

Our Founder Patricia Hunter McGrath was named Culver City's Visionary Woman of the Year in 2020.

Branches Atelier has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a School Yard Habitat.

Branches Atelier has been certified as a Sustainable Green Business Innovator by Culver City.

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Branches Atelier Fund is hosted at Edward Charles Foundation

Fundraisers

Feed fundraiser card link to Branches Annual Gala 2025 - Professional Development
Branches Atelier - Education That Dreams For The Future
Official fundraiser

Branches Annual Gala 2025 - Professional Development

If you would like to purchase a ticket for the gala on 4/19 at Venice West, please indicate GALA with your donation of $110 per ticket. If you would simply like to make a donation please indicate Reggio Trip with your donation. Professional Development for Teachers - Sending our teachers to Reggio Emilia, Italy 2026 Branches Atelier is committed to ongoing Branches teacher and staff professional development opportunities. At Branches Atelier, we believe that inspired teachers create inspirational classrooms. Our goal is to cultivate excellent, challenging learning environments where children can thrive and grow. To achieve this, we recognize the importance of investing in our educators through high-quality continuous professional development opportunities. Contributions from generous supporters like you enable our dedicated staff to participate in educational conferences, workshops, seminars, and ongoing education, including and extending beyond early childhood education courses. We are also able to work with experts from the schools in Reggio Emilia. These experiences not only enhance their skills and knowledge but also empower our teachers to implement innovative practices that directly benefit our students and create a community of lifelong learners. We invite you to partner with us in this important endeavor. Your support will help us ensure that our teachers are equipped with the latest tools and strategies to inspire their students. Together, we can create a brighter future for the teachers, children, and families in our Branches community.
Raised
$880
Next milestone
$1,000
4 supporters
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Feed fundraiser card link to Supporting Educators and Families
Branches Atelier - Education That Dreams For The Future
Official fundraiser
Make a Difference This Giving Tuesday

Supporting Educators and Families

Dear Branches Parents, Families, and Friends: Giving Tuesday is almost here—a day that reminds us to give back to the community. This year, we’re excited to invite you to support the Branches Atelier Fund’s Initiatives. We hope to raise funds to support our emergency assistance program, teacher education and mental health support initiatives, and professional development outreach workshops. All donations to our registered 501c3 are now tax deductible. You may wonder why we’re trying to raise funds?. How is the money really used? Am I really making a change if I donate? Let me tell you how fundraising dollars have already made amazing things possible at Branches. How Your Donation Changes Lives -Emergency Assistance Program Last year, tough times hit some of our families and teachers hard. It wasn’t just one thing—there were medical crises, job losses, and the Hollywood strikes that left people struggling to make ends meet. For some, staying at Branches felt completely out of reach. But because of donations from amazing people like you, Branches Atelier stepped in and handed out more than $20K in tuition assistance for our students and emergency funding support for our families and teachers in need. That support kept kids in their classrooms, surrounded by friends, staying connected to the teachers who believe in them. It kept home routines steady in a time of uncertainty. For some, it meant extra money to pay for medical testing, put food on the table and gas in the car. We need funds to continue to offer this resource to our community. -Empowering Teachers to Flourish “Inspire teachers, create inspirational classrooms.”--Patricia Hunter-McGrath Our Branches teachers? They’re the ones who bring the magic to our school. And when we invest in their growth, the ripple effects are incredible. How do we invest in our teachers? At Branches, we believe healthy teachers are the backbone of our school. To support the health of our teachers, Branches works with a wellness advocate who coaches our staff throughout the year. Each teacher has an opportunity to have 2-6 private mental health wellness sessions; they can request more if needed. The fund covers the cost of these sessions. We also have in-service workshops for the staff with the wellness coach every 6-8 weeks where we work on topics including interpersonal communication, anxiety, meditation, nutrition and so much more. This is an incredible way to support our teachers as they navigate the ups and downs of life. We are also committed to excellent, cutting edge professional development. For example, sending a Branches teacher to the North American Reggio Alliance Conference costs around $2,400. It’s not small, but it’s worth every penny. These conferences are game-changers—they inspire our educators to build on their strengths and try innovative approaches. Those fresh ideas light up our classrooms and help every child thrive. -Growing Our Reach Beyond Branches And here’s the thing—what we’re doing at Branches isn’t just for us. We share what we’ve learned with educators far beyond the walls of our school. Here’s a great example: With just $1K, we can give online professional development to 10 teachers working in underserved/under-resourced areas educating at-risk youth. That’s 10 teachers, each impacting dozens (if not hundreds) of children, all bringing Reggio-inspired, child-centered practices into their own classrooms. Or, with $400, we can send a teacher working in underserved/under resourced areas educating at-risk youth to a Reggio-inspired two-day conference. Let’s Grow Something Beautiful Here's where you come in. This Giving Tuesday, what you give—big or small—helps us support teachers, nurture our children, and lift up families when they need it most. Here’s what your generosity could do: $175 : Sponsors a teacher or early childhood education student for a full-day Reggio-inspired seminar, including materials and meals. $500 : Helps two of our teachers enroll in early childhood or art classes at a community college. $2,400 : Sends one teacher to a two-day Reggio-inspired conference, covering fees, travel, and lodging, so they can bring new ideas back to our children. $6K - $7K : Funds a life-changing week-long trip for one of our teachers to the International Reggio Conference in Reggio Emilia, Italy. This covers airfare, food, conference fees and lodging. Think of your donation as planting seeds. Each gift, no matter the size, grows into something much bigger. It strengthens classrooms, keeps children connected to learning, and supports teachers and families—turning generosity into something lasting and beautiful. Ready to Make an Impact? To give, visit https://www.branchesatelierfund.com or stop by the Branches office. Even small gifts make an enormous difference. Share Your Gift and Inspire Others After you give, don’t forget to spread the word. Share your generosity on social media and encourage friends, coworkers, and family to join you. Use the hashtags #supportbranches and #givingtuesday to show your support, and tag us in your stories. Whether it’s a quick post, a photo, or a personal story about why you gave, your message matters. Imagine how many people could be moved to help just because you shared. Curious to see more of the amazing things we’re building together? Visit https://www.branchesatelier.com to learn about how we’re creating a brighter future for young learners and families. Thank You for Growing With Us On behalf of our children, families, and teachers, thank you. It’s people like you who help our community thrive. Together, we’re creating something extraordinary that will keep growing for years to come. With gratitude, Patricia Hunter McGrath Executive DirectorBranches Atelier Schoolpatricia@branchesatelier.com P.S. This Giving Tuesday, let’s turn kindness into action. Your donation has an instant and lasting impact—and you’ll see it in the smiles and creativity of our children every day.
Raised
$100
Next milestone
$150
1 supporter
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Donors

  • Jim McGrath

    I wholeheartedly support the Branches Atelier Fund because it is transforming the lives of families and educators across the globe by fostering creativity, collaboration, and holistic development. This initiative not only empowers educators...

    1
  • Anna Milunas
  • Lawrence Taube
  • Richard Thaler
  • Lawrence Taube