Thank you for your interest in Chrysalis. I started Chrysalis in my home in 1983 for my own children. I wanted them to have the freedom to make choices about their learning. I wanted them to have time to develop hobbies and to just enjoy their lives. I wanted them to have teachers who cared more about them than their subjects and who loved their subjects and wanted to share them.
The more experiences young people can have – the more exposure to activities, people and places – the more they are able to envision the possibilities for themselves and their future. My own children are grown now and leading interesting and diverse lives. They have chosen Chrysalis for their children because as adults they can see the advantages they had. The school continues because it has something very valuable to offer families.
Karen L. Fogle
Founder, Director
I attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and completed a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. My education and teacher training there was very progressive and focused on changing the school environment for children.
I started my teaching career in a public school in Ohio that was focused on individualized learning and open classrooms. I also happened to teach in a building with a year round school schedule and multi-age student groupings. We have known for a long time that many students do not learn best in a traditional classroom.
I moved to Seattle where I completed my graduate teacher certification (fifth year) at the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University, where I was an adjunct faculty member for several years. I started Chrysalis in my home, for my own children because I could not find a public school program that was a match for what I wanted for my children’s education.
I had several friends who brought their children to my house for “school”. They told their friends about it and they brought their children and before I knew it my home became too small. From there the school grew. I hired my first teachers. I bought memberships for all of the students and we met at the Gold Creek Fitness Center. That’s when we added the high school, at the students’ request. Our students enjoyed a great PE program. In addition to a little school each day, they had swim lessons, martial arts classes and used the resident ducks for motivation for their creative writing stories.
We later moved into our first leased space in Bothell and our population grew. As we needed more space we moved into our current location in Woodinville in 1990. My oldest children graduated shortly after that and as a family, we made the decision to keep Chrysalis going even after our children had graduated. They each went on to graduate from college and were successful in careers of their own. They have recently returned to this area and have taken on positions at the school and I have a grandchildren attending. We have continued to add space including a separate elementary campus.
We have had over 1500 graduates. We even have students whose parents graduated from Chrysalis. Our graduates have gone on to many varied careers. They are college graduates, athletes, musicians, lawyers, mechanics, parents and teachers. We are very proud of all of them. We continue to hear from our students. Several have graduated from law school, one entered medical school this year and we have students who have graduated recently from a variety of universities including Lehigh and Vanderbilt. Many, of course, from the UW…
As parents you are pioneers. I said that 28 years ago and it remains true today. We are still challenged in our society to really appreciate the talents of all of our children and to find the ways to best ways to encourage those talents. We are challenged to believe what we know to be true about how children learn. The field of neuroscience is growing daily and providing the research to support the ideas and observations that teachers have observed about learning for many years.
Life is about the journey and what a journey our students have thanks to the support and courage of their parents.