Center for Research in Environmental Sciences & Tech

Kids — 33. Mom — 5.
One of the nasty little surprises for parents of school aged children are these pesky little things called holidays and school closure days. The count above reflects the number of days during the school year that the primary schools in my district are closed vs. the number of days my company recognizes as holidays. Notice a little discrepancy?
Well, mother’s little helper isn’t a glass of chardonnay. For some of those days, it is CREST to the rescue.
A public school education in West Linn — Wilsonville is quite good. But, even in the best of times, exposing your kids to new concepts with a focus on nature, science, inquiry and exploration is never a bad thing. And guess what? These full day programs are scheduled to coincide with days the public schools are closed.
CREST works in conjunction with the WLWV school district and they operate a research facility and farm in Wilsonville. CREST isn’t open on a daily basis to the public, but you can call them to schedule a tour. They also have an open house every fall [1] and special events throughout the year. They’ve even partnered with Audubon in the past for wildlife releases.
My children have benefited from CREST programs for years. A few of their ‘Learning on the Go’ programs take place at the CREST facility, but more often than not, they are field trips. Amazing trips to parks, wetlands, creeks and farms. The programs are grade level specific, so on the same day they may offer two programs. One for grades 1 — 3 and another for grades 2 — 5. This isn’t a cheap option ($ 35 — 40/​day), but I consider it money well spent.
The highlight for my oldest son last year was their week long spring break trip to the Oregon Coast. My son had an absolute blast and they perfectly balanced education and fun.
Another reason why this is the best of the best in my area is that the district created a Farm-​to-​School program, managed by CREST, so they have a 10-​acre plot to raise fresh produce for our district’s food program.
I can’t say enough good things about the staff. Both on the administrative and the educational side. A public school education can be a mixed bag, but CREST earns full marks. They are totally on the honor roll.
[1] Open House is September 18, 2010 from 10am — 2 pm