Our Story

When Kids Village™ was founded nearly 15 years ago, founder Ann Whittaker didn’t have grand expectations of what Kids Village™ would soon become. Her driving force was not to build a successful business, but to answer a desperate need for programs, support, and a positive environment for children of all talents and academic abilities.

As a mother, Ann experienced firsthand how traditional education sometimes stifles or forgets children with talents and passions different from those with natural academic abilities. Ann’s daughter fit into a traditional role of an excelling student. She was labeled as “gifted and talented” and was given opportunities and programs that helped to build her confidence and drive her even further ahead.

Ann’s son, however, was labeled as “developmentally delayed” due to a speech delay. He was placed in an old trailer behind the school with a collection of students who had differing levels of cognitive and intellectual challenges. Without a way to reasonably individualize learning and development based on each student’s personal educational progressions, the limited teachers instead had to teach the group to the best of their abilities given the wide spectrum of learning styles and capacities.

“One day when my son was four years old, he said to me, “How come I’ll never be good at anything?” said Ann. “It broke my heart he felt that way. I truly believe that children who grow up with people telling them they are smart or talented will flourish under that perception. I also believe that when children like my son are told they are ‘developmentally delayed,’ they’ll shrink and wither into that label. There was no way I was going to let that happen to my son.”

Instead of finding a program that would help Chase discover his gifts and confidence, Chase and Ann instead found frustration. With neither academics nor sports coming naturally, and with so few programs available, Ann felt helpless as a mother. “That was the moment for me,” said Ann. “Why don’t we offer more? Why isn’t there more available for children of all skills and talents?”