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TRICA’s Preschool of the Arts is informed and inspired by the best of Fred Rogers, Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Waldorf traditions, along with full-body teaching techniques from National Dance Institute, of which TRICA is an affiliate. With Arts and Humanities as a foundation, we educate children to become confident, expressive, balanced, passionate, driven, resilient, and creative problem-solvers.

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TRICA combines the arts, master teachers and a meaningful curriculum with a profound power to inspire children toward a higher standard of excellence and creative expression that pours over into every other area of their lives: their relationships, ambitions for life, and how they impact their community.

The Preschool day is filled with song, dance, physical activity, artistic performances and interactive outdoor experiences. Kindergarten readiness is a strong focus; math and science are taught through the lens of Arts and Humanities. Our teachers employ Conscious Discipline and Mindfulness: a wonderful set of tools that help children understand their feelings to regain a sense of calm and self-control, contributing to higher emotional intelligence that will stay with them for life. Parents say they can tell a difference.

By the time the children finish TRICA’s preschool, they truly love learning and are confident and excited for kindergarten.

Art IS education.
Arts are the perfect means of expression for a young child’s emotions, intellect, social being and physical body. TRICA’s Preschool of the Arts embraces all disciplines of art for children, including obscure and lost art forms. Students may play in a Hillbilly Jug Band or use wire, salvaged fabric, needle and thread to make a Guatemalan Worry Doll to take away their worries while they sleep at night.

Children have faith, they have wonder. They have spiritual thoughts. They’re open to an array of answers to life’s questions. In this moment when their personalities are developing, THIS is when education needs to be at its finest. TRICA Preschool of the Arts explores matters of the soul, of morality, of right and wrong. Sometimes it is the children who lead these conversations and discoveries, and we as teachers are all too happy to follow.

TRICA’s Preschool of the Arts puts creativity at the center of learning, and TRICA’s highly imaginative castle-like learning environment is a showstopper.

Space to create, invent and perform is ample within the walls of TRICA’s rescued 12,000 ft cathedral-turned-children’s-arts institute, formerly listed as one of the “Top Ten Most Threatened and Endangered Historic Sites in Idaho”. The inspired new center for learning and the arts occupies a quarter of a city block in Boise’s vibrant Hyde Park District within close proximity to neighborhood elementary schools and city parks.

Nature is art.

Art doesn’t exist without nature, and no Boise child should exist without the outdoors! Our wonderfully located Children’s Arts Institute serves as a base camp for walking field trips and stimulating daily interactions with the natural world.

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Preschool of the Arts Tuition and Options for 2022-2023 School Year (First Day of School, Tues. September 6)

Age 4-5 years

5 days/week M-F 8:30am -1pm
(Must be 4 by September 1)
$1070/mo Tuition

Extended Day: Capture the Castle M-F Option 5A: 1pm-3:30pm: $550/mo + $25 mo supplies fee

Age 3-4 years

3 days/week MWF 8:30am-1pm (Must be 3 by September 1) $680/mo Tuition

Extended Day Option: Capture the Castle MWF Option 3A: 1pm-3:30pm: $325/mo + $25 mo supplies fee

Age 3 years
2 days/week Tuesday,Thursday 8:30am-1pm
(Must be 3 by September 1) $505/mo Tuition

Students pack lunch daily. Families provide snack on a rotating schedule.
*Please note, children must be completely toilet trained.

Includes all professional arts instruction.

Parents and Our Community of Creativity

Parental involvement is the best indicator of a student’s success in school. As part of TRICA’s Preschool of the Arts, families gain a sense of belonging to a community of creativity. They’ll hold shared memories of the dance floor at Family Dance Parties, and come to know world-class guest artists on a first-name basis with children taking turns inviting artists over for dinner.

Parents are invited to help make props, style hair for a show, fire the pottery, paint the set or join us for our daily exercise. Every one of these opportunities for hands-on parent involvement is a chance to model the TRICA pedagogy for continuation at home. Through joyful involvement, it’s hoped our preschool parents will become more artful and animated—communicative lifelong learners themselves who are more likely to freely express their feelings and try new things as a family.

Preschool Leadership

Rita Flynn, Director

Alisha Donahue, Head Teacher

Alisha Donahue has been teaching children across the Treasure Valley for 20+ years and is very excited to help launch the Preschool of the Arts! She believes that music, dance, theatre and fine arts are more than just extracurricular activities—they’re the core of any joyful creative classroom experience. “Miss Alisha” is a dynamic and entertaining force in the classroom, trained in a wide variety of early childhood philosophies and curricula. She uses her extensive training to tailor each of her classes to the unique needs and interests of her students. A beloved educator most recently teaching at the Guided Discovery Preschool at the downtown YMCA, Alisha has given hundreds of young learners a fantastic start toward a lifelong love of learning, which she feels is the most important accomplishment one can achieve in early childhood education. When she is not teaching, Alisha is a stand-up comedian, podcaster and YouTuber, as well as an occasional singer, dancer and karaoke DJ to the stars. Alisha has performed on stages around the world, and with people you have actually heard of. While “comedian” Alisha and “teacher” Alisha travel in very different worlds, Alisha brings humor and laughter into the classroom at every opportunity. In her experience, a happy learner is an engaged learner, and “Miss Alisha” is one of the most engaging people you’ll ever meet.

Nancy Neely, Head Teacher

To work in an environment that allows the child to express themselves creatively, emotionally and physically is Nancy Neely’s dream come true. A seasoned teacher who became legendary in the Boise School District, Neely’s passion that every child be successful in life, have a strong sense of self, and know they are unique. She believes strongly in hands-on and hands-in learning approaches and is the perfect fit for an arts preschool. She seems born to teach young children, who go absolutely gonzo for “Mrs. Neely,” in part because she is the embodiment of love and always has a kind or gentle word to say. Mrs. Neely grew up in Sandpoint, Idaho and spent a joyful childhood exploring the beauty of the outside world, which she continues to enjoy. Mrs. Neely is an avid reader who loves hiking, biking, camping, skiing, snowshoeing, gardening, yoga, and walking her dog, Buck. (She is the cool teacher who bought snow tires for her bike so she could commute to school in winter!) Neely holds a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Idaho and is a mother of four children. With the strong belief that every child should have an education and a safe home, Mrs. Neely and her husband Ken provide support for children in India, Indonesia, Congo, Sierra Leone and San Francisco.

Tucker Battrell, Preschool Assistant

Molly Brunett, Adminstrative Assistant