We broke ground on our new P.A.L.S. classroom at Urban Ventures in the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center with sponsors, families, friends, staff and – of course – cake on Wednesday, April 9. The Redleaf Family Foundation is funding this new partnership, so Rhoda cut the ribbon with a shiny pair of yellow children’s scissors before everyone toured the beautiful classroom.
Here’s lead classroom teacher Meredith Skalko reporting on how the program is going so far:
“(The south side) P.A.L.S. is off and running! We have started Family Fridays programming while we patiently await our license application to be approved by the City of Minneapolis. We have had a really great response so far – 16 participants at our first Friday class, 23 at our second, and 26 at our third. It is really exciting to see the parent-child piece of the program underway. Parents and children are playing together, talking together, and learning together, which is really what Way to Grow is all about. I am looking forward to discovering the best ways to tie the preschool and parent-child components of the program together and to see how involving parents in their children’s learning first-hand can help foster school readiness and success.”
Assistant teacher Craig Allen thought the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was enjoyable, but added that “the real magic happened two days later” at the third parent/child class. He is impressed and pleased that the kids have already grasped sharing, self-control, quiet voices and playing nicely with their new friends – all important skills for school success.
The next exciting endeavor for the preschoolers and their families – 59 of them, in fact – is a field trip to the Minnesota Children’s Theatre on April 25 to see “Balloonacy.” We can’t wait to hear how that goes. For now, click here for a full Facebook gallery of photos from the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
