2026 Symposium
Design for Early Learning Symposium
Beyond Partnerships
How does an interdisciplinary design process lead to environments where children, families, staff, and communities FLOURISH?
Saturday, October 3, 2026
9am–5:30pm
The Barn Early Learning Center
Puyallup WA
With a Friday Evening Reception on October 2 from 5-7pm
at Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center’s new facility
The Cora Whitley Family Center in Tacoma, WA
Agenda
Networking
8:30–9am
Join us for coffee and light snacks and meet with fellow attendees.
Welcome!
9am-9:30am
A brief welcome to the symposium and an introduction to the work of Design For Early Learning , with remarks from Jeff Brown and Seong Shin, the architecture team who worked together on The Barn Early Learning Center.
Panel: Multiple Perspectives on Design
9:30–10:45 am
75 minute session with Q/A
The members of this panel will share insights from projects where partnerships truly enabled their spaces to flourish:
Early Learning and Affordable Housing: Building Partnerships
Design Thinking in Early Childhood Learning Environments
How do our beliefs about how children learn influence the spaces we create?
Speakers
Forrest Murphy, Principal at CAST Architecture
Shannon Cruzen, PreK Teacher + Division Facilitator for the Lower Grades at Bertschi Elementary School
Alyssa Johnstone, Regional Director at Brilliant Beginnings
Dignity by Design: Spaces Where They Flourish
11:00-12:15pm
75 minute session with a Q/A
To embrace the future of learning, we must advocate for spaces that protect the physical health, psychological safety, and dignity of the whole community. Challenging the "one-size-fits-all" status quo, this session explores the neurobiological link between the built environment and learner well-being.
Drawing from Reggio Emilia principles, we re-frame physical space as an active pedagogical participant. Using biophilic principles, sustainable materials, and participatory design, discover how to create ecosystem-focused environments where learners and educators flourish.
Speakers
Bridgitte Alomes, CEO + Founder, Natural Pod
Dr. Sandra-Lynn Shortall, Assistant Superintendent at West Vancouver School District
Sara Sutherland, Director, Children's Centres at Capilano University
Lunch
12:15pm–1:45pm
Opportunities for tours, poster sessions, networking and engagement
During the lunch period, there will be opportunities to tour the classrooms at The Barn and engage with various poster sessions.
Lunch will be provided by Farm 12.
TBD
1:45pm–3:00pm
75 minute session with a Q/A
The Human Body to Scale
3pm–3:50pm
50 minute session with Q/A
This session will dig into examples from work and projects from around the world to talk about designing specifically for children’s bodies.
Speakers
Anjali Grant, Anjali Grant Design
An introduction to the Toolkit
4pm-4:30 pm
30 minute session
The Design for Early Learning team will share excerpts from the recently completed Design and Development of Early Learning Facilities: A Toolkit for early learning and design professional created in partnership with Enterprise Community Partners.
Speakers
Diane Kroll, Design for Early Learning
Alissa Rupp, Design for Early Learning
Liz Carlis, Design for Early Learning
Reflections and Networking!
4:30-5:00 pm
To conclude the symposium, there will be a facilitated discussion of the day's sessions: What will you take back to your organization, and what are your hopes for your upcoming projects? What do you need to flourish?
Then, we welcome you to join your fellow early learning professionals, administrators and designers for snacks, mingling and networking.
Beverages and light snacks provided.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
The Bamford Family Foundation
Enterprise Community Partners
College Unbound