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An Award-winning child care

Our Mission

We are reimagining the childcare experience for modern families. We don't just take care of your child; we take care of your entire family.

Our Leadership Team
Pioneering a new idea of working parenthood.
kelsey lents

Washington Post

Our Leadership Team

Two Birds was founded by two working parents.

JP Coakley

COO, Co-Founder

A DC native, JP draws on his experience as a regulatory auditor in the nuclear energy industry to work with local childcare industries and ensure compliance with licensing requirements. A minor in music and a passion in photography has driven his vision to include such enrichment activities as a priority at Two Birds.

JP met Kelsey in 2016 at Georgetown University while pursuing their MBA.

Fun fact

JP was the tour photographer and videographer for the musician Girl Talk. Check it out.

Education

  • BS in Macromolecular Engineering, Case Western Reserve Univ.
  • MBA, Georgetown University

Kelsey Lents

CEO, Co-Founder

Kelsey's background in architecture, liberal arts, and business has driven Two Birds' emphasis on environment and interdisciplinary thinking as a core component of children's education. While studying at Georgetown, she welcomed her first child, an experience that motivated her to create a space and platform that empowered modern families by embracing both parents as professionals and primary caregivers.

Fun fact

Kelsey has designed award-winning Mars habitats for NASA with her design consultancy team, SEArch+. View her TEDx talk here.

Education

  • BA in English, Yale University
  • Masters of Architecture, Columbia University
  • MBA, Georgetown University
  • Fulbright Fellowship teaching elementary school in Germany
  • Former Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Parsons School of Design
  • 10 years in workplace design and construction in NYC

About Two Birds

Two Birds is a Reggio-inspired school for children, Infants through Pre-K. Our all-inclusive approach to education supports the entire family through our spaces, services and community. We implement this mission by building Two Birds around three core pillars and services:

1. Comprehensive Early Childhood Education

2. Professional Workspace for Parents

3. Engaging Extracurricular Classes for Children & Parents.

About Two Birds

Two Birds is a Reggio-inspired school for children, Infants through Pre-K. Our all-inclusive approach to education supports the entire family through our spaces, services and community. We implement this mission by building Two Birds around three core pillars and services:

1. Comprehensive Early Childhood Education

2. Professional Workspace for Parents

3. Engaging extracurricular classes for children & parents.

About Two Birds

Two Birds is a Reggio-inspired school for children, Infants through Pre-K. Our all-inclusive approach to education supports the entire family through our spaces, services and community. We implement this mission by building Two Birds around three core pillars and services:

1. Comprehensive Early Childhood Education

2. Professional Workspace for Parents

3. Engaging Extracurricular Classes for Children & Parents.

About Two Birds

Two Birds is a Reggio-inspired school for children, Infants through Pre-K. Our all-inclusive approach to education supports the entire family through our spaces, services and community. We implement this mission by building Two Birds around three core pillars and services:

1. Comprehensive Early Childhood Education

2. Professional Workspace for Parents

3. Engaging extracurricular classes for children & parents.

Whole Child, Whole Family, Whole Community.

Our Mission

Two Birds was founded to transform the way in which community is built within early childhood education to actively incorporate children, teachers and families. By integrating the voices of all members within our community, we strive to create an educational philosophy and approach to teaching that is individualized in its attention to the needs of our children, responsive to member identities and interests, and high quality in its implementation of learning within a play-based curriculum. As part of this work, our goal is to provide our students, their families and their teachers the opportunity to build, define and care for their own identity as well as their relationships with each other and themselves. We support this by cultivating experiences within Two Birds that create meaningful points of engagement, and that form the underpinnings of a strong community grounded in connection with and around the school.

Additionally, we strive to engage all of the components of a family’s needs by building Two Birds around three core pillars and services:

Comprehensive Early Childhood Education
Professional Workspace for Parents
Extracurricular Classes for Children & Parents.

This holistic approach incorporates the whole family into the child care experience while also creating intentional learning opportunities within the classroom, and fostering relationships between children, families and educators.

Our Mission

Two Birds was founded to transform the way in which community is built within early childhood education to actively incorporate children, teachers and families. By integrating the voices of all members within our community, we strive to create an educational philosophy and approach to teaching that is individualized in its attention to the needs of our children, responsive to member identities and interests, and high quality in its implementation of learning within a play-based curriculum. As part of this work, our goal is to provide our students, their families and their teachers the opportunity to build, define and care for their own identity as well as their relationships with each other and themselves. We support this by cultivating experiences within Two Birds that create meaningful points of engagement, and that form the underpinnings of a strong community grounded in connection with and around the school.

Additionally, we strive to engage all of the components of a family’s needs by building Two Birds around three core pillars and services:

Fun Fact!:
The name Two Birds comes from a play on the idea of Two Birds, One Stone. We’ve built our centers around tackling pairs of problems through one solution: both a parent and child’s “work” week; integrating education and play; serving weekdays and weekends.
WHO Makes up Two Birds

Our Teachers

At Two Birds, our teachers have a range of teaching qualifications and experience. Some have been in the field for decades while others are newer to the field. We value the expertise more experienced teachers bring to the classroom as well as the openness and innovation newer teachers introduce. Some teachers have bachelors or associates degrees in education or a related field, some have a CDA (a certificate in child development) and others may be working towards qualifications. When we create teaching teams within a classroom, we pair teachers with complementary skill sets, personalities as well as qualifications and experience. We consider all of our teachers to be part of classroom teams, rather than general support in the center. This means all teachers are an integral part of a child’s day, have close relationships with the families, and are deeply familiar with classroom’s and children’s routines.  

Fun Fact!:
The founders, JP Coakley and Kelsey Lents met in business school while both expecting their first child. They incubated the business during their MBA program as a solution to their own challenges balancing work and care. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Two Birds

Recognition and Celebration of Identity

Two Birds seeks to create an inclusive environment that incorporates the identities of our families, staff and greater community. Our school hopes to promote opportunities for children and families to acknowledge their backgrounds within the classroom to share with one another.

Self-reflection as a Driver for Relationships

For our students, we hope to provide opportunities to look inward, understand qualities about themselves, and explore who they are at a formative time. These discoveries work hand in hand with the Reggio Emilia curriculum that is centered around the concept of social justice. As children discover who they are and how they interact with the world around them, the Reggio curriculum encourages them to be keen observers and to communicate what they feel and believe.

Promoting the Interests and Backgrounds of Team Members

Not only does Two Birds strive to maintain a broad representation of backgrounds in its teaching and leadership teams, we want the experiences of those personnel to be reflected in the roles they portray in hopes that it will contribute to a more well-rounded and empathetic culture.

Fostering Lifelong Learning

At Two Birds, we value a sense of curiosity about the world and appreciate the range of skill sets and expertise brought to the community. We also seek to prioritize educational development for our staff members as an opportunity to advance their learning and can benefit both our students and staff.

Fun Fact!:
Several members of our executive team worked at the same charter school prior to joining Two Birds!

Two BirdS

Meet our Leadership Team

Kelsey Lents

CEO, Co-Founder

Kelsey's background in architecture, liberal arts, and business has driven Two Birds' emphasis on environment and interdisciplinary thinking as a core component of children's education. Kelsey has designed award-winning Mars habitats for NASA with her design consultancy team, SEArch+. View her TEDx talk here.

Education

BA in English, Yale University

Masters of Architecture, Columbia University

MBA, Georgetown University

Fulbright Fellowship teaching elementary school in Germany

Former Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Parsons School of Design

JP Coakley

COO, Co-Founder

A DC native, JP draws on his former experience as a regulatory auditor in the nuclear energy industry to ensure high quality compliance and operations. His minor in music and passion for photography has shaped Two Birds’ in-house exhibitions, documentation processes and visual imagery. 

Education

BS in Macromolecular Engineering, Case Western Reserve Univ.

MBA, Georgetown University

Daizy Rose Frazier

Studio Director

Daizy brings Two Birds not only a background in Education but one in art, design and photography as well. Her mother was an early childhood educator and her father is an artist, which allowed her lots of time and exposure to both the education world and creating in the studio space; she is impacted deeply by the power of open-ended art. Daizy has grown and developed the foundation of the Studio Program at Two Birds across the multiple locations that operate today.

Education

BFA in Art Education, Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Masters of Art in Teaching, Boston University

Thora Balk

Curriculum Director

With more than 25 years of experience in Early Childhood Education, Thora has worked in the field as a teacher, Inclusion Coach, Center Director and Teacher Mentor. She is passionate about utilizing the outdoors as an extension of the classroom and works hard to create warm and safe environments where children feel safe to build relationships.

Education

BA in Pre-K-3 Early Childhood Education, Univ. Wisconsin Madison.

Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, University of Scranton

Fun Fact!:
Two Birds was the first full day, licensed center to offer onsite coworking space in the US.

Two Birds Partnerships

In keeping with our commitment to creating and engaging with the local community, Two Birds partners with many local organizations. Partnerships have included:

George Washington Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Crescendo Communications
Turquoise Easel
Patrick Owens Art
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