Centre Daily Times: One-Stop Shop: Preschool Fair Allows Parents to Examine Child-Care Options
STATE COLLEGE — With 15 child service programs at the eighth annual Preschool Fair on Saturday, the Marion family may have found just what they were looking for.
“We want a place that’s going to feel like you’re dropping off your kids at a family member’s house, while we’re at work,” said Ferguson Township resident Joni Marion. “We want a place that, while we’re out for the day, the kids can learn a little something – not just be a babysitter.”
Tom and Joni Marion have 2-year-old twins, Cameron and Elsa.
On Saturday morning, the couple was doing research of preschools they want to enroll their girls in next year that will prepare the toddlers for kindergarten.
Sponsored by Mothers & More, and hosted at the State College Area High School South Building, fair director Melissa MacNeely said the event aimed to bring multiple preschools to potential clients at one venue.
“It’s a convenient way to bring their options to them,” MacNeely said. “They can look at the preschools and programs, and narrow down their search and find anything from Montessori schools or faith-based preschools or really anything they’re looking for.”
MacNeely said each year the event attracts 75 to 100 families.
“What we find is a lot of the families are looking for a second home for their child while they’re not around, and a place that child can thrive socially and academically,” MacNeely said.
Kerry Looper, a teacher at Abba’s House, off Benner Pike, said she takes potential families through a day in the life of their program, discusses enrollment options and assures them there is an education component to the program while being nurturing in the meantime.
The facility expanded its preschool to four classes last month to serve an extra 100 children, said assistant director Kim Stubblefield.
The daycare and preschool serves children from 6 weeks to 5 years old.
Millbrook Marsh Nature Center has a new program called Puddle Jumpers that brings an environmental aspect to child education, said Melissa Freed, program coordinator.
“When they come in, we want to make sure we’re going outdoors and learning about the nature while still providing them with basics of learning letters and numbers and more,” Freed said. “It’s a nature program for preschoolers, but they get a lot of outdoor activity and education through exploration.”
The program was established in the fall of 2013, and currently has about a dozen kids with two leaders.
The Preschool Fair equally helped the mission of the Pre-K for PA campaign, said Tracy Weaver, outreach and communications coordinator of the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, that represents the initiative.
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New Setback Doesn’t Diminish Local Commitment to Preschool Funding
Dec. 10 was a day of mixed emotions for advocates of early childhood education in Pittsburgh. Early that morning, it was learned that Pennsylvania would not receive the $20 million in funding that it had applied for under a federal grant program. The news came as a blow, especially since U.S. Education Secretary chose Pittsburgh as the place to announce the $250 million grant program in August and because of the time and energy Mayor Bill Peduto has devoted to the subject.
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Pre-K Investment Equated to Economic Growth
The amount of public assistance currently available for pre-K in Pennsylvania is only enough to help one in six children access high-quality programs, according to Pre-K for PA, a nonprofit aimed at expanding preschool access.
Families can spend more than a year on waiting lists to see if they qualify for subsidies — Pittsburgh Public Schools alone has about 200 children on its pre-K waiting list — but the window is small for those ages 3 to 5, the years when it’s recommended kids attend a pre-K program.
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Pre-K for PA Campaign Pushes Governor-Elect Wolf, Legislature to Invest in 4-Year-Olds
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A top ranking U.S. Department of Education official and members of a statewide campaign to increase early learning opportunities for children swapped stories and strategies on Thursday at a Philadelphia City Hall summit.
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning, Libby Doggett, says there is empirical evidence that the early learning years – for children 3 and 4 (years old) – are so very important.
“You have education research,” she says, “economic research, developmental psychology research, neuro-science research, medical research.”
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High-quality pre-k “has just done amazing things” for my son.
We wanted to share a quick story with you from a parent who has seen the benefits of high-quality pre-k.
On Tuesday morning, representatives from the Pre-K for PA campaign were the featured guests on a central Pennsylvania talk show, making the case for why Pennsylvania needs to drastically expand access to high-quality pre-k for the commonwealth’s 3- and 4-year-olds. A mom named Julie from York County called in to share how she found an affordable Pre-K Counts program for her son, who she feared might not be prepared to succeed in kindergarten. In Julie’s own words …
“It has just done amazing things. I was against (enrolling him in) kindergarten because I just knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle being in a classroom that long. And now, no worries whatsoever after him being able to be in this program. He didn’t need it for the academics. He needed it for the social, he needed it for the emotional stuff. … He has just succeeded so well in this program that I wish it was available more.”
We wish it were more available too, Julie. That’s why we’re working hard to make the case for increasing state investments in high-quality pre-k programs like Pre-K Counts and Head Start.
And that’s why we needed voices like Julie’s – and yours – to tell Gov.-elect Tom Wolf and the General Assembly that investments in high-quality pre-k need to be a priority for 2015.
Montgomery County Leaders Visit Collegeville Play & Learn to Endorse Pre-K Investment
Event organized by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids highlights endorsement of Pre-K for PA by Montgomery County Chiefs of Police Association
Media Coverage
As part of the Pre-K for PA campaign, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, Police Chiefs William Albany (Limerick) and David Duffy (Upper Gwynedd), along with State Senator John Rafferty and State Representatives Mike Vereb and Todd Stephens, visited the Collegeville Play & Learn center on Thursday, October 9 to discuss the value of early learning and to read to children in this high-quality pre-k program.
The law enforcement leaders provided information showing that investing in high-quality early education in Pennsylvania can help at-risk children succeed, reduce special education costs, significantly reduce the likelihood that they will commit crimes, and save taxpayer dollars through reduced prison and other costs. Pennsylvania’s 2014-15 state budget grew funding for Pre-K Counts by $10 million providing services to almost 1,600 additional children statewide. Despite this increase, 66 percent of Montco’s approximately 19,320 3- and 4-year-old children do not have access to high-quality pre-k.
The statewide anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is sponsoring the event. The 200 Pennsylvania district attorneys, police chiefs, and sheriffs who are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids are urging greater access to high-quality pre-k for more of Pennsylvania’s children as an essential crime prevention investment. The organization is a founding partner of the Pre-K for PA campaign, the goal of which is to ensure that all 3- and 4-year-old children in Pennsylvania have access to high-quality pre-k. Ms. Ferman serves on the Executive Leadership Council of the Pre-K for PA Campaign. Chief Albany, representing the Montgomery County Chiefs of Police Association, officially announced the Association’s endorsement of the campaign.
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| Pre-k 3 teacher Desiree Sedgwick, MontCo DA Risa Ferman, Limerick Police Chief William Albany, Rep. Mike Vereb |
Pre-k 4 teacher Christina Doty, Upper Gwynedd Police Chief David Duffy, Rep. Todd Stephens, Pre-k 4 teacher Natasha McManus |
