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Donations to date: $900,118
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11/04/2008
Winter Festivity
We would be honored by your presence at our annual Winter Festivity.
Please join us at the Lone Mountain Ranch on Saturday, December 6, 2008 at 6:00pm for cocktails, dinner and a live auction.
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You can find links to "green" resources on our Helpful Resources page?
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Simkins Holdings
Special thanks to Bill Simkins and Simkins Holdings for generously donating the Town Center site for the new Morningstar Learning Center.
Thank you for sharing our vision!
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| Welcome to Morningstar Learning Center! |
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Morningstar Learning Center Inc. is a Montana not-for-profit corporation that has received approval for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status from the IRS and the Montana Department of Revenue under MCA 15-31-102(1). Morningstar was incorporated in April 2006 and is governed by a volunteer board. Morningstar will provide a much needed facility for the children of the families who live and work in the Big Sky community. Morningstar will facilitate an essential community service in a manner that is affordable for local residents and visitors in a new, safe and suitable structure that will be designed to provide exceptional learning experiences and inspire lifelong environmental and community stewardship.
Our mission is to raise private funds to build, own and operate a LEED certified (US Green Building Council guidelines) childcare facility in Big Sky and offer not-for profit early education programming for 0-5 year old children.
Simkins Holdings and the Town Center Owners Association have generously donated a fabulous site on a 4.6 acre parcel in the Town Center Neighborhood Park. The site is within walking distance for the majority of families with children in Big Sky.
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| Our Vision: learn green ~ live green |
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Morningstar's vision is that by teaching our youngest children at a grassroots level about renewable energy, low impact environmental construction, conservation, recycling and other sustainable living practices, we will create a new generation of environmental stewards to whom conservation and preservation of our Earth will be as second nature as wearing seatbelts has become to baby boomers. Thus, in additional to meeting a critical need for early education childcare services in the Big Sky community, Morningstar is educating children under its motto of learn green ~ live green .
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| Why the Morningstar Learning Center will be ''green''... |
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Morningstar is seeking the highest possible LEED certification for its new facility to provide the healthiest possible environment for the children of Big Sky. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System was created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to establish a ''common standard of measurement'' for ''green'' buildings. The very design of the building will be a teaching tool with the systems visible and their efficacy monitored for the public to study. The renewable energy systems contemplated for the building, i.e. hydronic and PV solar and geothermal HVAC, will also lower building operating costs and translate into lower tuition costs. Other green elements currently being designed for the facility include a vegetated roof, rain/snow melt water collection and permeable parking surfaces. Building materials, finishes and furnishings are being chosen to eliminate the off-gassing that is typical in conventional construction.
Morningstar has hired Chip Webster & Associates, based in Boulder, Boston and Nantucket, as the lead architect for the project based on their experience in designing build-to-suit childcare facilities and their track record in designing sustainable structures.
Kath Williams, President of the World Green Building Council, has agreed to act as Morningstar's LEED consultant and is based in Bozeman. Linda Bell, also based in Bozeman, will will be the project's local architectural partner.
This facility will provide a learning opportunity for students and a model for low impact environmental construction for the community.
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