Helping hands: Park Forest Preschool serving more ELL families than ever
A quality preschool experience provides lasting benefits for children when there is frequent, positive communication between the preschool staff and the families. Park Forest Preschool (PFP), a state licensed, nonprofit, tuition-free school for income qualifying families in our community, prioritizes creating positive relationships and strong communication with our families.
At PFP, we regard each child in our program as an individual with unique needs and gifts. We recognize and respect the cultural differences, values and experiences of each family. Over the 55-plus years since the preschool began, we have enjoyed students who, along with their families, occasionally are English Language Learners (ELL).
This past year, we enrolled the largest number of ELL families we have had at one time, and we sought to ensure that the communications between school and home would be as strong with them as with all of the families. We were able to work with Penn State language departments, who assisted with translating our brochure into Spanish. We also received a PACT (Philanthropic Actions Created by Teens) grant through Centre Foundation that will fund printing of these brochures.
We asked our ELL families to give us feedback regarding their experiences with the program, and these are some of the comments we received:
“The teachers are always available to help the children. Regardless of whether they are from another country, they treat them the same and are invested in the well-being of the children, inside and outside of school. I love that they help us learn about social programs that help all the people in the family.”
“The teachers at Park Forest Preschool have gone above and beyond to create a warm and inclusive learning environment. They have fostered a sense of community among the families and made us feel welcome and supported. As a parent, I appreciate the open communication and partnership between the teachers and families.”
“Our son is thriving and thoroughly enjoying his time. The staff members have consistently gone above and beyond to create a welcoming and nurturing environment for him.”
“Since we moved to the USA a little over a year ago, our son was unfamiliar with the new food items served at the school. However, the school administration and staff have put in remarkable efforts to encourage him to eat his lunch and breakfast, which we truly appreciate.”
Park Forest Preschool relies on the generosity of our community’s support to operate our program each year. We are grateful for this support and for the extra assistance from Penn State and PACT that enabled us to be more effectively inclusive with all of our new families.