It all began with a vision...

Seasons was founded in 1984 by Kelly Lee Kist. After twenty years of operating her beloved Seasons Program, Kelly was ready to share her knowledge and experience with a much wider audience, and so in 2004, established The Seasons Way Non-Profit.  In 2007, The Seasons Way Board wrote a Mission Statement which includes the support of our Flagship Seasons Programs as well as supporting the Director, Annie Whitney  in training professionals who are interested in opening Sister Programs.  These programs provide the community with more access to education in line with the philosophy of The Seasons Ways. In May 2007, Kelly moved from Santa Barbara, and left her beloved Seasons to the care of a wonderful parent community, The Seasons Way Non-Profit, and her lead counselor, Annie Whitney.   A new Board of Directors was established which has helped to stabilize the flagship program, and we had begun promoting our principles to a wider audience by opening multiple programss as well as supporting Annie Whitney in providing Empathy Training, Nutrition Workshops and outreach in the larger Santa Barbara Community.

Seasons’ signature methods have been evolving over the last 37 years and have served to inspire many local schools and programs to begin offering organic foods, green environments, outdoor classrooms and peaceful conflict resolution skills as part of their philosophy.  As the Director of Seasons, Annie Whitney has lead a parent co-op, designed six outdoor schools, created a Seasons infant program, hosted parenting workshops, and mentored the director of multiple local Sister Programs, including Seasons Child Program.  Annie additionally offer outreach to the community through mentoring and offering workshops to parents and teachers on Empathy Training and Non-Violent Communication.

Outcomes

Reports from early attendees of our programs who are now attending college are that their earliest learning experiences at Seasons supported them throughout their school years in being conscious people who understand that they play an active role in creating the world they live in. The communication skills and peaceful problem solving techniques mastered early on stayed with them and served them well in a variety of post-early childhood program environments.  Children will often return to Seasons during their later educational years to attend Summer Camp, complete work experience, volunteer work and we currently have a counselor on staff who attended Seasons as a child.   Additionally, parents report that their exposure to Seasons encouraged and supported them in taking active initiative in their child’s school communities after long term enrollment at Seasons .

Our Mission

Seasons Path is committed to creating emotionally aware communities dedicated to the use of non-violent communication and having a universal commitment to the safety of all living beings.