Almost anything goes at the Kirkland Preschool – even stick bugs.

On a recent afternoon, Vivian and Robert Weber were delighted as they watched the creatures that blended in with the greenery in a tank at the preschool. The Weber’s daughter brought in just one stick bug many years ago and it has since multiplied. The couple was surprised the school still had the bugs.

“If I never see another stick bug,” laughed Carolyn Wirkman, the school’s director. She added that at the non-profit Kirkland Preschool, staff tries “lots of things because you never know when a child is going to get a little spark. “

The Weber’s, along with Maureen Baskin and her husband, Jim, bought the preschool’s current site in 2000. It was the preschool’s fourth move and attempt to keep the preschool running since it opened more than 40 years ago.

But the preschool now faces the struggle of keeping its doors open once again as the school’s lease is up in June 2012. The families hope to find new ownership of the property and preschool.

“Ideally, we would love somebody to take over who thought the same way that would support this kind of educational opportunity for the neighborhood,” said Vivian, whose two daughters attended the school when the two families acquired the property more than 10 years ago.

The preschool has been a part of the Kirkland community since 1969, first operating from the basement of Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church near City Hall. The preschool moved in 1993, renting space from Eastlake Assembly of God Church for seven years. But the church ran out of space and the preschool was told it would have to move again.

“They didn’t have a home to go to,” recalled Robert. “So we said maybe we can marry a deal. If we can find the property, maybe you guys will help fix it up or do whatever it takes to make it work.”

It was a long process to get the preschool established at its current site in the Norkirk neighborhood.

The two families, whose children attended the school at the time, found the former Montessori site was for sale for more than $550,000. They agreed to lend the purchase money, offering the preschool a 10-year lease for $1,200 per month.

“But it needed a phenomenal amount of work,” said Robert, noting a few core people helped to renovate the site, including Glen and Galen Page of Page & Beard Architects, who provided pro bono architectural work and practical advice on working with the city. The preschool also took out a loan to do a further $140,000 in repairs.

“When we went into the building, it was just like the children had just left that day,” recalled Baskin. “It was just eerie. It had been on the market for two years and we had to go through the zoning process.”

During the renovation and zoning process, the preschool temporarily moved to Kirkland Junior High for more than a year, operating out of an old portable and science room. Wirkman said there was no playground and the students had to go to the commons area to play games before junior high students were let out of class.

In the meantime, the families went through a lengthy process of traffic studies and public hearings to get the site zoned as a preschool.

“We would look at each other sometimes and we’d say, ‘well, what if we don’t get the zoning?’” Said Baskin. “So it was really a leap of faith.”

Robert said for him, helping out the preschool was about “doing a socially conscious thing. And we didn’t do this just because it was a preschool – this was a special group of ladies.”

As a stay-at-home dad, Robert would bring his daughters to the preschool and observe the high quality early education the teachers provided.

“This is not something you find at every preschool,” he added. “So it was a conscious decision to say this is worth supporting because this is as good as it gets.”

Each week, the preschool provides more than 80 students a different learning unit, from construction and economics to dinosaurs.

The teachers get children physically and emotionally involved in fun activities, and get them thinking about others, said Wirkman, whose 5-year-old grandson attends the preschool.

During a recent unit on economics, preschoolers made money banks out of cottage cheese containers. The students made products throughout the week that teachers bought and they would put their pennies into the containers.

At the end of the unit, the teachers set up a store where students could spend their money. They also set up a jar at the “checkout stand” where kids could drop in donations for Hopelink. The school raised nearly $100 that it will give to Hopelink.

“So that kind of thinking about others is really important to us as well,” said Wirkman.

She added it’s been a “joyful experience” to be at the current site, which has provided “a place that we could call our own.“

The property is currently listed on the market to give the preschool enough time to transition to what the families hope will be another party who wants to acquire the property and non-profit school to keep it running.

“We really feel we have done our best to support the preschool for the amount of time that we have,” said Baskin, noting the preschool has the opportunity to continue if another benefactor will step up.

Wirkman, who is set to retire next year, said she is willing to stay on with the Kirkland Preschool as long as it takes to make a smooth transition for the potential new owners.

“This has been quite a resource in the community,” she noted. “It’s very unique, so it would be wonderful to continue that opportunity.”

For more information, visit www.kirklandpreschool.org or e-mail Maureen Nolan at maureen@wabrokers.com.