About a year ago the RSF Post launched a new Q&A column, “RSF Take Five,” which highlights members of the community who are doing great works by asking them five questions — just enough to intrigue and inspire over an afternoon cuppa (or Aperol Spritz, cuz, hey, it’s summer) clasped in your “I Heart RSF” mug (or 40-ounce Stanley).
Today our column features a priceless fixture in our Ranch community who moved here when she was just six months old, Mary Ann Tessary, aka “Big Teacher,” as children and parents alike fondly call her.
Mary Ann is the OG of child whisperers, having touched the lives — and hearts — of so many local families with her holistic approach to nurturing young minds, including my own daughter, my little brother and sister, and one of my older brother’s children, the latter of whose decades-old, dog-eared Christmas card peaks out from a board of cork consumed by a strata of scrawled and faded paper bits and sepia’d images memorializing the generations of Happy Time alumni and their families who continue to be a part of Big Teacher’s adoring devotees.
It takes a fearless and compassionate educator and mentor — supplied with a seraphic level of energy, patience and passion — to shape our world’s future generations. Mary Ann is it. Happy Time is a magical educational sanctuary led by a woman with great conviction, insight and love for children and life.
RL: Tell me about the genesis of Happy Time? What is your background, when did you open it and what was/is your vision for the school?
MT: I opened the school April 23, 1962. I spent two years working as a teacher for Mrs. Stotesberry (who ended up as the principal at R. Roger Rowe school) at her nursery school in RSF. I then opened up my own nursery school in April of 1962 and it’s been going ever since!
I had four women come to my home before I opened the school. We had planned to open a nursery school together in RSF. We enjoyed coffee and treats as they proceeded to tell me that I was just too young to open a nursery school and I just couldn’t do it. Plain and simple. They left and I just sobbed and sobbed as my bubble was burst. I called my mother and told her what had transpired. She told me I could either use it as a stepping stone or a stumbling block. And at that moment, I knew I was going to open a nursery school. Sixty-four plus years later, I’m still here!
Central themes to the school are: manners; being kind and loving to everyone; access to animals like chickens, ponies, and dogs; having a garden for the children to tend to; saying the pledge of allegiance daily; riding lessons once a week; and focusing on a play-based academic model.
To help the children really understand what’s important, during our daily high-tea time (or juice and cookies, as the children call it), the children recite this mantra: “Thank you, thank you for my food. Thank you, thank you for my love. May the love begin and may it begin with me. I love myself and I love you, too.”
RL: What is the biggest change you have witnessed as an early childhood educator in the Ranch. What positive and not so positive Changes have you seen in the community and with the children over the past 50 years?.
MT: We always have five teachers for 25 children. There are two teachers who work to prepare the older children for kindergarten, to ensure they can spell their full name, know the alphabet, numbers, etc. One of those teachers is my son John Paul. He has been working at Happy Time Nursery School for over 25 years.
It is so important to focus on the whole well being of the child. Access to the outdoors, playing, and learning to work with others in a kind way guide the way the school operates. This emphasis has not changed since the opening of the school.
RL: If you could wave a magic wand and make changes over the educational landscape locally, or otherwise, what would you do?
MT: I have noticed a shift from play-based schools to mostly an academic platform. While academics are important, it is necessary for children to be simply that, children.
RL: What is one or two of your favorite stories from the past however many years? The one story that you find yourself retelling?
MT: A little history and fun fact — of many — about Happy Time is that the pony the children ride on is the great-great-great grandson of the pony I rode on as a two-year-old. Over an 83-year Welsh pony line! (See top black and white photo).
RL: After almost 65 years teaching and nurturing young minds, how do you still have so much energy and love for what you do?
MT: It has been an honor and a pleasure, to not only live in RSF, but to work with all the wonderful children everyday. I will continue to do so as long as there is breath in my body. It gives me life and brings me such joy! How many people can say they absolutely positively love what they do for a living? It is such a gift! Thank you so much for this opportunity!
Happy Time Nursery School is for children aged two to six years old. It is located just minutes from the village of Rancho Santa Fe and serves the Ranch and all of its surrounding communities. If you are interested in having your child attend Happy Time, make an appointment online to take a tour or contact the school by phone at: (858) 756-3694.