Meet Sabrina Baker | Arts- Based Preschool Owner & Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sabrina Baker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sabrina, why did you pursue a creative career?
I chose to pursue my career as an Arts-Based Preschool Owner, and Teacher because I feel that a lot of children feel discouraged when they want to express themselves through art, and music and aren’t provided healthy ways to do so.

My goal for each of my students before they enter Kindergarten is to be able to learn not only just standard Kindergarten skills, but also how to begin understanding their emotions through hands-on art and music-based activities such as Drawing, Painting, Singing, Dancing, Yoga, and Calming strategies, all while having a positive and safe learning environment while away from home.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My journey of opening my own online and local arts preschool began in October 2020. I have been an Early Childhood Educator for 10 years and was tired of the low pay and over crowed classrooms with little funds to teach my students the way I feel they needed. I was using the little money I did early from teaching to provide a fun, loving, and caring experience all children should have, especially when they are away from their parents for 8 – 10 hours each day, 5 days a week!

Upon joining an awesome online support group for women who wanted to start their own preschools with little money and no college degree. I felt that maybe if I could learn the business end of how to run a preschool I could add on to all my experience, including my Child Development credential, college credits that I already had towards an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Educations, CEU’s and all the health and safety requirements to work with young children.

I felt so empowered that I was meeting women just like me all over the world who had the same passion for wanting to teach young children. In February 2021 I took the plunge and registered my business name with the state and it was approved!
I had then saved a few hundred dollars and was feeling confident about starting my program by nannying for a family for a few months so I could have everything I needed to teach.

By June 2021 after meeting the director of the community center a few weeks later and submitting all my paperwork it became official that Creative Xpressions Preschool for the Arts (CXPA) was going to begin classes in September 2021! For the remaining part of the summer, I hustled and worked side delivery jobs and a summer camp to save up to buy all that I could for the preschool. I was blessed with community members donating to my preschool toys and materials that in no time filled up my classroom with everything the students would need!
I’m so happy and overjoyed that I have been able to not only was I able to become a black and woman-owned business but I was able to break a mold that I can run a loving, caring, and safe family-oriented arts preschool!

As of October 2022, CXPA has been open and running for 1 year and 2 months. I have been able to help a total of 20 families so far with the combination of all 3 of my programs.

Our newest program I have recently started our new FREE community- based program, Creative Tots Art & Play Group. This program offers a large indoor space for parents of toddlers and preschoolers to get together and have fun and network to local people and resources in the community.
I also host our Little Artist Club Online, A 30 min art class for toddlers and preschoolers that meet twice weekly via Zoom.

Coming in June 2023, I am preparing to offer our 2nd 10-week summer camp program, Xpress Yourself. This program will be for toddlers and preschools ages 2-5 years old.

CXPA has been my pride and joy and my dream is to find a private and larger location so that I can obtain my group childcare license in the state of PA so I could care for 6 students. I also would like to finish up my associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education by 2024!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Some fun places to visit in the Pocono Mountains:

– Kalahari Indoor Water Park
– Camelback Indoor Water Park
-Shopping at The Crossings Premium Outlet
-Going for a picnic or hiking at the many local state parks
-Local wineries
– Local Pumpkin Patches and Apple Orchards

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to say a shout-out to Dominque Burgess of Burbrella LLC, for being an amazing mentor to me and helping me navigate my journey as an educational entrepreneur. She has truly been an inspiration!

I would also like to say a shoutout to Charece Sanders from the non- profit organization; Metamorphosis Women’s Empowerment Initiative of East Stroudsburg, PA ,for helping me with learning all the available resources I have access to in my community. She has helped me build my confidence and has helped me feel confident as a Black-Owned Female Business Owner.

Website: https://cxartspreschool.wixsite.com/cxpa

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cxartspreschool/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cxartspreschool/

Image Credits
All Images are taken by Sabrina Baker of CXPA. All Students pictured have photo release permissions signed by their parent/guardian.