Our mission is to help you find childcare.
Peace Centers is a non-profit organization serving families in Whatcom County for the last 10 years. Peace Centers was previously a Montessori preschool and homeschool cooperative. They were the first licensed Montessori school in Whatcom County that accepted childcare subsidies through the Working Connections program. They transitioned from being a school to focus on training teachers and parents and consulting with childcare programs. Recently, they received a $500,000 Healthy Children’s Fund award to create this website, making drop-in and emergency care available to all families in Whatcom County. This will greatly impact the community by serving parents who don’t need consistent care, are on a waitlist, or want to foster a child. And provide guardians the opportunity to work, apply for assistance, attend a job interview, take a class, or even get to the doctor or grocery store. If guardians don’t have access to childcare, they can’t thrive or provide for their children, and the cycle continues. The goal is to expand this program to the rest of the state of Washington and possibly beyond. The site should be fully functional by the summer of 2025.
Meet our team
We are a team that is excited to provide opportunities for the community to come together and find a deeper meaning to life through various gatherings of creative expression.
Angelique Burrell
Executive Director
Human development and the evolution of society has always been a passion of mine. I earned an undergraduate teaching degree in Early Childhood Education, a Masters Degree in Education, and an AMI Montessori Certification. I am an advanced STARS trainer, and have completed trainings in Ayurveda, children’s yoga and mindfulness. I also have many years experience with nature immersion and Kundalini yoga. I am a mother of two grown amazing children, three sweet fluffball kitties, and have been teaching children, parents and teachers for over 20 years.
I have spent the last couple years practicing deep inner work which has brought me to an incredible place of awareness, connection and peace. My dharma is to share teaching and parenting tools that will help bring about a generation that can thrive, find joy and live in peace and harmony. This work starts with adults connecting to the highest expressions of ourselves so we are able to guide the children. Lets work together and interrupt our patterns, break the cycles, and reprioritize! Everything we need is inside of us, we just need to tap into it.
I love to be in the flow~ dancing and connecting deeply to music, cooking nutritious and delicious food, practicing yoga and meditation, communing with nature while hiking and biking, studying spirituality and neuroscience, and making connections with all you beautiful souls out there in Whatcom County and beyond!
James Bauckman
Program Director and Board President
James Bauckman is a co-founder of Peace Centers. He worked for many years as Executive Director and a teacher in the classrooms. James currently serves as the President of the board of trustees. He has his Masters in Education with a concentration in Educational Administration. James is also the co-founder and first head of school of Meadows Montessori school in Ferndale, WA. Meadows Montessori is a LEED certified, farm school that serves 120 students aged 2.5-12. He has worked in many different settings, with children and families, and gained a lot of experience and knowledge of best practices. James is dedicated to creating solutions and providing support to children and families that do not have their basic needs met and have an inequality in their educational opportunities.
Lane Vieira
Office Manager
Lane is our office manager. They have a Bachelor’s in Ecology with a concentration in education, and over a decade of experience working with youth, particularly historically underserved & marginalized communities. Some of their previous experience include roles as an outdoor educator, wilderness therapy mentor, and youth case manager, as well as in administrative non-profit work. Originally from Philadelphia, Lane has lived in the Bellingham area for the past seven years. In their free time, Lane is usually hiking around with their partner and dog, and balancing many interests including reading, illustration, travel, music, gardening, cooking, and climbing.