tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post3402641022290859373..comments2023-09-29T06:32:16.005-04:00Comments on My School Committee Blog: Education Matters: Preschool is key to successCatherine A. Sandersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-11002721987217152742009-11-18T23:41:13.990-05:002009-11-18T23:41:13.990-05:00Great idea JM. UMASS had a a lab preschool until ...Great idea JM. UMASS had a a lab preschool until several years ago. Dottie Meyer was the director for about 17 years until it closed several years ago. She now runs her own preschool (Renaissance Preschool) near the UMASS campus. She is amazing and would be a great person to consult with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-13713493383158263302009-11-18T09:00:27.143-05:002009-11-18T09:00:27.143-05:00I wonder if a preschool could be housed in the Mar...I wonder if a preschool could be housed in the Marks Meadow building and run in collaboration with the UMASS education department as a lab school. Maybe Amherst and UMASS could apply for funding together.jmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-76749154856388906312009-11-17T01:42:29.025-05:002009-11-17T01:42:29.025-05:00Instead of trying to create a preschool program sp...Instead of trying to create a preschool program specifially for lower-income children (this rings of clustering), why not create some type of voucher system that would give low-income children the opportunity to attend one of the many outstanding preschools in our community? The voucher program could be supported by grants, taxes, a local church or nonprofit organization, or private donations. A system such as this could really help the underserved (I really dislike the term disadvantaged) children in our community. I think that parent participation is also key to a child's success at school, so a co-op type model could also be explored. Creativity and research into best practices is key.....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-37059009496646793882009-11-16T22:01:09.088-05:002009-11-16T22:01:09.088-05:00I think Jan Ryan who is the Preschool coordinator ...I think Jan Ryan who is the Preschool coordinator needs to be acknowledged here for many years of hard work. Our children went to the district's preschool program long time ago and we could not have afforded to send our children to area private preschools. Jan has used grant money such as the Community Partnership money to send many children to area preschools when there is no spot in the district's program. I don't know what her role is currently but way back then she would oversee not only the district preschool rooms (I think there were four back then...not only teachers and paras but all the specialists who work in the program) but kept close contact with area preschools and REACH programs. She seemed to be the one who knew exactly how many children would be going up to Kindergarten with what needs and wrote grants to find funds for various needs of the preschool population. She was amazing then and I hear she is amazing still.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-19125280234166625332009-11-16T20:14:48.331-05:002009-11-16T20:14:48.331-05:00I think a key point is that it's cheaper in th...I think a key point is that it's cheaper in the long run to send kids to preschool, then try to help them catch up later in expensive interventions that can go on for years. Also, what a better experience for the kids themselves to do as well as -- or better than -- their classmates who have had preschool and other early enrichment?jmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-20112169950771961632009-11-14T10:34:48.835-05:002009-11-14T10:34:48.835-05:00Great article!
So, how can we fund this? Diver...Great article! <br /><br />So, how can we fund this? Diverting money from other places in the budget doesn’t seem like a great idea as there is no “extra money” to divert. We need more money somehow to do this. <br /><br />Are these options?<br /><br />1. Grants? From where? Do we have somebody to write those grant proposals? <br />2. Community donations – some kind of major fundraising drive?<br />3. Sliding scale fees?<br />4. Other?Rick Hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04347110422224233217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-46305077817919638212009-11-12T20:56:11.859-05:002009-11-12T20:56:11.859-05:00How much exactly is "not cheap?" And wo...How much exactly is "not cheap?" And would funds be diverted from our current elementary and regional school budgets to pay for it? I don't know how many more cuts our existing schools can take. Although I agree that preschool is invaluable?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com