History of The Kinderplatz

The Kinderplatz of Fine Arts, Inc. opened on February 5, 1979, in a suite of rooms in Orchestra Hall, 4401 Trail Lake Drive in Fort Worth, Texas. There were seven students, ages four and five.

The program has grown and changed over the past twenty-six years. Presently, more than one hundred children participate annually in the activities offered. The students range in age from two to five years. Enrollment is limited so that the student/teacher ratio remains five to one in the youngest groups, and six to one in the older groups with assistants for each master teacher.

The curriculum emphasizes art, music, movement, creative play and school readiness. Several lead teachers are certified and degreed in Early Childhood/Child Development and/or Fine Arts. The school was founded by Lu Bolen and is under the direction of Paula McMillen Williamson. The assistants have had training in their chosen field, and several are also degreed.

The school outgrew the facility in Orchestra Hall in 1984, and the Kinderplatz moved to the Alice Carlson School and remained there in the historic kindergarten wing of the building for eight years. When the Fort Worth Independent School District reclaimed the building in 1992, the Kinderplatz moved into the Junior Achievement facility on Kingsridge Road, in southwest Fort Worth, where it remained until the building was sold to McKinney Memorial Bible Church, and the lease was not renewed. The school years 1997-2000 were spent in the Christ Church Educational facility at 5401 Woodway Drive while the KFA Building Committee raised funds and designed and built a permanent home for the school.