April begins with one non-negotiable: BEEP considers the student first and the resources second. That commitment requires the program to build teams with outside specialists, prepare children for kindergarten, and support the adults doing the work. Episode five follows those relationships into staff compensation, benefits, governance, retention, and connections that extend throughout the Bayfield community. When April, Stephanie, Julia, Colleen, and Lauren identify BEEP’s “ingredients,” they describe respect, trust, communication, knowledge, professional judgment, voice, and shared responsibility. Together, their stories suggest that inclusion does not come from reproducing another program’s practices but from creating the conditions in which people can contribute to what happens next.

• 00:00 — Student first, resources second
• 01:39 — Building teams beyond the program
• 03:21 — Including and supporting adults
• 04:41 — Carrying knowledge into kindergarten
• 07:27 — Retention, compensation, and governance
• 12:23 — Families and community as resources
• 14:28 — Naming BEEP’s ingredients
• 18:28 — A program shaped across generations
• 19:36 — Replicating practices or supporting growth
• 22:32 — What has already been growing here?

Learn more about the Growth Model for Inclusion Course and other trainings at heartsetandmindset.org. Contact Dr. Andrew Goff at AndrewDLgoff@gmail.com.

Colorado Shines evaluates its view of quality at BEEP. The overall score was good, but its classroom observations, where the work matters most, revealed the limits of what an outside observer could document during a brief visit. Staff discussed the gaps between the standard measures of quality and high-quality, meaningful inclusion. The episode then follows BEEP’s curriculum and assessment decisions, where professional judgment involves interpreting what each source of evidence contributes within a particular context.

• 00:00 — Waiting, independence, and adult action
• 02:36 — Colorado Shines and competing evidence
• 08:01 — Preparing for an ECERS observation
• 11:30 — Building curriculum from multiple sources
• 16:06 — Planning for what happens “ish”
• 17:14 — Choosing an assessment system
• 18:40 — Observation, relationships, and professional judgment
• 21:01 — What makes educational decisions possible

Learn more about the Growth Model for Inclusion Course and other trainings at heartsetandmindset.org. Contact Dr. Andrew Goff through heartsetandmindset.org/contact.

At the Bayfield Early Education Program (BEEP), staff members are not interchangeable. Some bring decades of classroom experience. Others arrive with few formal credentials but with patience, commitment, and a willingness to learn. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators hold different responsibilities, yet knowledge and ideas move across those roles.

In Episode 3, Stephanie, Colleen, Julia, and April describe how BEEP’s staff learn to work through differences in experience, personality, and authority. Their stories reveal that collaboration depends on more than hiring the right people. It requires time to reflect together, relationships in which uncertainty can be acknowledged, and structures that allow people to contribute while continuing to grow.

What appears from the outside as chemistry among staff is supported by intentional choices about hiring, mentorship, co-teaching, communication, and shared decision-making. Together, these choices help explain how responsibility for inclusion can extend beyond a single educator or director and become part of a program’s culture.

Learn more about the podcast, the Growth Model for Inclusion, and early childhood trainings at heartsetandmindset.org.

00:00 Stress and Support 01:20 Episode Three Begins 03:51 Team Differences 05:12 Kids First Values 06:55 Collaboration Structures 08:36 Extra Adults Join 10:14 Stephanie Finds Voice 12:40 Communication Breakthrough 14:23 Julia Learns Teaching 15:37 Hayes Shapes Educator 17:06 Hire the Person 22:05 Paras Influence Plans 24:39 Families First Staffing 26:52 Beyond Depending April 29:56 Next Episode Tease 30:56 Thanks and Outro

Contact Inclusive Education Project: https://www.inclusiveeducationproject.org/

admin@IEPCalifornia.Org

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If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, then please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show. It helps other listeners find this show.

Contact me on social media or through my website for more information on my work: loveisaclassroom.com

Thank you for listening!

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode

If you enjoyed this episode and believe in our message, then please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show. It helps other listeners find this show.

Follow me on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram

Why does Bayfield Early Education Program (BEEP) feel different? Dr. Andrew D.L. Goff begins his five-episode journey toward understanding what makes BEEP different from the other 79 programs he has visited in western Colorado over the past two years.

00:00 A Preschool Welcome

01:59 First Impressions Matter

03:16 Meet Dr Goff

03:53 Stephanie Joins During Covid

09:11 Learning Without Pressure

11:48 Julia Finds Her Place

14:26 The Real Work Begins 16:46 Searching for the Secret

18:12 Families First Culture

24:31 Peace Within Chaos

25:29 A Parent Needs Proof

26:31 Hayes Tour and Inclusion

29:22 Episode Wrap and Thanks.

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Cover art by Josie Filippelli https://www.linkedin.com/in/josie-filippelli/