Creating Stronger Brains through the Arts

Art Infusion

Many tend to associate the arts with Picasso paintings or Shakespearean plays. However, many don’t realize how impactful the arts can be in early childhood education.

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, Dr. Sarah Baray, CEO of Pre-K 4 SA, and Dr. Kimberly Stephenson, director of education for The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, discussed “The ‘A’ in STEAM: The role arts integration plays in San Antonio’s classrooms, community, and corporate culture.” Baray explained how Pre-K 4 SA integrates the arts into its curriculum.

During her presentation, there was an overview of the complexity of a child’s brain architecture. Children are born with endless possibilities, and their brains are prewired to allow them to learn anything. Children are capable of speaking any language or multiple languages, developing musical talents, or being facile with numbers.

“Over 90% of brain development occurs before the age of five,” said Baray. “This means that the way our brains will be structured for the rest of our lives is determined at a very early age.”

From the moment a child is born, his or her brain begins to strengthen some of those wires and eliminate others. Those pathways that are frequently stimulated through experiences and interactions get reinforced, while other paths that are seldom used will diminish.

For example, although children are born with the ability to speak any language, they initially learn only those languages that are spoken to them in their households. If children learn multiple languages early in life, it becomes easier for them to learn additional languages later in life because their brain already has strong pathways to support multilingualism. If children grow up only speaking one language, it’s more difficult to learn another language later in life because the brain is trying to build a new pathway when development is slower.

The human brain continues to develop until death. However, the rate of development slows down significantly as people continue to age. In the first five years of life, the brain makes one million neuronal connections every second. Thereafter, from the ages of six to 20, brain development slows down moderately and continues to do so throughout life.

“After the age of 20, our brain development happens at a snail’s pace in comparison to what happens in our early years,” said Baray. “We can still develop new pathways but it takes longer.”

The arts are essential to high-quality early learning not only because we want children to develop the brain architecture to support artistic talents and interests, but also because art is a language and a mode of expression.

Interestingly, art integration is not the norm in most schools today. Over the past 30 years, creativity and the arts have been removed from the K-12 education system. The arts have become an optional aspect and because they’ve been marginalized for the last two decades, children are losing their innovational edge.

For this reason, art integration is a critical tenet of the Pre-K 4 SA approach to high-quality early learning and forms part of one out of the four core curricular pillars. Pre-K 4 SA incorporates the Wolf Trap model into every classroom by inviting local artists to work with the children in creating original works of art.

Another way Pre-K 4 SA incorporates art into its curriculum is through their Gracias San Antonio: Children Are Citizens Project. The project begins in November with the children’s participation in a program-wide election to vote on a local non-profit to support for the academic year. Throughout the year, children and families engage in City Explorations with Pre-K 4 SA teachers by visiting different places around San Antonio as inspiration for pieces of art.

Pre-K 4 SA invites local artists to assist classrooms with the creation of authentic art pieces that express the children’s perspective of the city. More than 100 pieces of art are created and displayed in a public gallery to be auctioned to raise money for the local non-profit organization. Many who attend the annual Gracias showcase are amazed to see the wonderful pieces created by the minds and imaginations of young children.

Pre-K 4 SA strongly believes that by engaging students in art experiences at a young age, children more deeply develop their thinking and creativity, learning to express themselves in a variety of ways.

Pre-K 4 SA Provides Parent Training to Help Build a Foundation for the Future

parent training

Pre-K 4 SA continues to share the value of early childhood learning by offering parents more resources about the importance of a high-quality education.

Pre-K 4 SA is known for its work with young children. However, it isn’t only young children who benefit from its high-quality programing. Pre-K 4 SA also works with adults by providing over 10,000 hours per year of professional learning for educators who teach young children, and created a partnership designed to extend programs to parents.

Most recently, the City of San Antonio Head Start program and Pre-K 4 SA joined to offer parents a Child Development Associate Credential (CDA). This program provides parents the ability to enter the early education field and excel as their child’s first teacher before he or she enters a formal kindergarten program.

A CDA credential provides the education and the necessary training to ensure an assistant teacher is well prepared to deliver high-quality instruction. High CDA program costs make this credential unattainable for many, but Pre-K 4 SA is providing access to more parents and educators within the community. Pre-K 4 SA provides the hands-on course instruction delivered by Ashley Orihel, professional learning specialist at Pre-K 4 SA.

In the first class of the CDA program offered by Pre-K 4 SA, Ashley led a group of 12 dedicated parents. The participants received 120 hours of instruction and reviewed numerous topics, from classroom safety to all of the areas of a child’s physical, emotional, and behavioral development. Additional classes covered the creation of a professional portfolio with a strong emphasis on essay writing.

In addition to curriculum instruction, parents were required to work as volunteers in a classroom setting for 480 hours throughout the five-month program. Many enjoyed the hands-on experience so much that they exceeded the minimum number of hours needed to earn the credential, despite having other jobs and family responsibilities.

Ashley dedicated her time to building relationships with each parent, addressing concerns and challenging them to gain a better understanding of the value and importance of early childhood education.

Pre-K 4 SA recognizes parents as critical educational assets because they’re their child’s first and most important teacher. Pre-K 4 SA believes every child deserves a high-quality education that begins with parents, regardless of the family’s education or economic limitations.

“[The CDA program] is one of the most powerful things I’ve experienced since being at Pre-K 4 SA,” said Orihel. “The impact this program has had on the workforce in San Antonio is just amazing.”

Parents who received the CDA credential gained professional skills to make them more marketable in the early childhood education field. Before the completion of the program, four parents were offered a full-time substitute position, and one of them began a position at Stafford Early Childhood Center.

“There were many positive outcomes from taking this high-quality CDA program,” said Demetria Keys, a parent and program participant. “I was hired as a substitute teacher at the same school I was taking the class. The doors just opened up to many things.”

The interactive and intensive CDA program offers its alumni more than curriculum and instructional opportunities; it builds leadership skills and confidence. One parent currently sits on the policy council for Head Start, another is a PTA vice president, and one is a director of children’s ministry at a local church, while others host community events at local schools.

“Originally, I was interested in the course to get more information about my kids,” said Vanessa Bermudez, a parent and program participant. “Both of my children have developmental differences, so I took this class to help me understand them better.”

Due to the success of the first cohort, the City of San Antonio Head Start and Pre-K 4 SA are planning to have two cohorts at the same time—at no cost—for the 2019-2020 academic year. One class is scheduled to be held at Edgewood ISD, and the other at San Antonio ISD. Alumni from the first cohort have volunteered to share their own impactful experience with the next group of participants.

The CDA program was designed to align with Pre-K 4 SA’s mission to change the educational and workforce trajectories in San Antonio in one generation. Pre-K 4 SA is glad to take part in contributing to early childhood education today and will continue to do so in the years to come.

Building High-Quality Education One Child Development Center at a Time

4-star TRS provider

For some parents, the search for a Child Development Center (CDC) begins shortly after they learn they are expecting. Parents want to give their children the best start in life and that includes providing their children with the best early childhood education available. However, there are factors which can impede them from finding a high-quality center for their child.

The State of Texas has implemented a quality improvement rating system for CDCs, the Texas Rising Star (TRS). According to the TRS website, this program is “a voluntary, quality-based child care rating system of child care providers participating in the Texas Workforce Commission’s subsidized child care program.”

TRS is a quality rating tool which includes three levels of quality: 2-star, 3-star, and 4-star, with 4-stars being the highest level of TRS certification. CDCs are limited within our city, and many have long waitlists; therefore, parents often opt for a closer, uncertified center for the first years of their child’s life.

Currently, 89% of CDCs are not certified in San Antonio. Family-owned, corporate, and faith-based CDCs need support to provide a high-quality education that each child deserves.

The minimum benchmark for child care centers is through the Texas Health and Human Services Minimum Standards for Child Care Centers.

“Centers need to adhere to all minimum licensing standards,” said Janet Henry, professional learning specialist with Pre-K 4 SA. “However, they often have too many deficiencies or critical deficiencies which prevent them from becoming TRS certified.”

In 2016, Pre-K 4 SA saw the need to support CDCs in San Antonio to increase the quality of the centers. Pre-K 4 SA responded by creating a grants program that included CDCs. In its first year, 13 centers were chosen to receive funding through a competitive grants program after responding to a request for proposal for the academic years of 2016-18. The second group of nine centers was recently chosen to receive funding for the 2019-21 academic years, with a new requirement that the centers must be nationally accredited or TRS certified.

In early 2019, Pre-K 4 SA also began a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Cohort, specifically targeting centers throughout the city that would like to become TRS certified. Directors attended monthly meetings to understand and apply the standards at their sites. Funding was provided to several of the centers to assist them in pursuing TRS certification. A new cohort of interested participants began in September 2019.

Northwood Presbyterian Day School is a participant and awardee of the CQI Cohort and Request for Proposals. After an intensive application and interview process, the center began receiving its grant in July 2018. Shortly after, Janet Henry became its professional learning mentor to start preparing the center for the TRS assessment.

Pre-K 4 SA determines the necessities of each center by using an internal High-Quality Impact Pyramid Tool. This pyramid is compared to a nutritional pyramid where the vital, high-quality, foundational practices are located at the bottom, and they are referred to as tiers. Tier 1 is Program Features and Staff Qualifications and starts allocating grant funds in this area. Tier 2 consists of Instructional Quality and Physical Learning Environments. Tier 3 involves Family Engagement and Outreach, and finally, Tier 4 brings Innovation.

As the centers progress, the High-Quality Impact Pyramid Tool allows them to be considered to receive assistance in the higher tiers, and gives them the opportunity to raise their center’s overall quality.

For the past year, Northwood Presbyterian Day School has made modifications and has developed new practices. Frog Street was adopted as the center’s formal curriculum. While the majority of the funds was used to remodel the school’s current playground into an outdoor learning classroom, the grant funds also made it possible to purchase furnishings, chairs, tables, manipulatives, and multilingual publications.

“Janet Henry was very open and receptive to the staff here at Northwood,” said Director of Northwood Presbyterian Day School, Rebecca Cranfill. “She was a very great mentor and leader who brought in a lot of new ideas and excitement. She also allowed us to give our feedback and to grow along in the process.”

The grant program requires administration, teachers and staff to attend 30 hours of best practices for early childhood over a span of one year. Cranfill recalls speaking with teachers after returning from their monthly trainings.

“Our teachers were enthused and ready to start implementing new practices in the classroom immediately,” added Cranfill.

After the long hours of hard work, Northwood Presbyterian Day School received a 4-star rating on June 20, 2019, following its initial TRS assessment.

“If any center in San Antonio has a true passion for children’s education or wants to build a high-quality center, the support provided by Pre-K 4 SA is unparalleled,” Cranfill said. “It was such a blessing for us. By receiving the grant, we were able to accomplish some of those things for which we previously didn’t have funding.”

Currently, Pre-K 4 SA is assisting over 20 centers throughout the city become nationally accredited or TRS certified, and is currently recruiting additional centers.

Twins Overcome Health Challenges and Thrive at Pre-K 4 SA

twins

Six months into her pregnancy, Maria Montiel began to feel contractions, and her mother’s intuition told her it was too soon for her to deliver her twins. After suffering a miscarriage at the same time during a previous pregnancy, she knew she needed medical attention.

Maria entered the emergency room, with tears in her eyes, fearing for her babies’ lives. She saw the twins on the fetal monitors and was assured by her doctor that everything would be OK.

Liam and Ryder were born micro preemies at 24 weeks. With weak immune systems and only a 50% chance of living, the twins had to remain in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for more than 115 days.

As the twins grew, many medical challenges followed, including seizures. David and Maria Montiel viewed their home as a safe haven to protect their children from viruses that could become fatal for their children.

Scientific and medical research shows that the most rapid brain development occurs in the first few years of life. While the Montiels were doing what they felt was in the best interest of their twins to keep them healthy, they recognized that the lack of socialization with other children at an early age could cause a setback in the twins’ early education and social development. Both parents were still apprehensive about enrolling their children in a pre-k program but knew it had to be done if the boys were to build a strong foundation for their future.

“We were afraid to leave our lives—our children—in the hands of a school that would not pay attention to them and their health,” Maria said.

For the first four years of the twins’ lives, Liam and Ryder were an ever-present fixture at their parents’ side. That all began to change when the Montiels registered at Pre-K 4 SA. During Welcome Week, the parents let the boys spread their wings and play with other children their age during parent orientation. Maria and David were still hesitant to let their twins out of their sight, but the twins were ecstatic to have met and played with other children.

The Montiels also noticed that Pre-K 4 SA did something that many schools don’t do anymore.

“When the teachers came to the house for a home visit, I knew that Liam and Ryder were heading to a great school. The attention that their teachers demonstrated is unheard of,” David said.

The Montiels have always felt welcomed and confident in the safety of their children at the Pre-K 4 SA West Education Center. That trust was put to the test when Liam suffered a seizure in class just two months into the school year.

Because of the Montiels’ concerns regarding the health of Liam and Ryder, the Pre-K 4 SA staff, including Mark Martinez, Liam’s Pre-K 4 SA teacher, designed a personal emergency plan for both children. The emergency plan was executed correctly, and Liam received successful medical attention in a timely matter.

“Communication from the parents was important. So when [the seizure] happened, it was controlled in the most appropriate manner for everyone involved,” said Martinez.

Pre-K 4 SA listened to the Montiels’ concerns and goals for their twins and implemented strategies to address the boys’ individual needs. It was essential to strengthen their social and communication skills so the twins were enrolled into separate classes.

Ryder had been the more outgoing and active of the two, and he tended to answer for his brother. Placing the twins in separate classes was essential to help Liam develop socially. As a result, Liam has flourished by becoming more engaged in group activities and is eager to share his work with others.

Since enrolling at Pre-K 4 SA, the Montiels have taken advantage of the program’s family specialist and parent liaisons to be involved in all aspects of their children’s early education. They have attended free family workshops and training opportunities offered by Pre-K 4 SA to actively learn more about their children to be consistent in continuing their learning at home.

“The Montiels are always helping in some way,” said Virginia Sandoval, parent liaison at the West Center. “They are very supportive and motivated to help their children grow and succeed.”

David and Maria are grateful to have found a high-quality pre-k program that has helped their twins thrive despite their health challenges. They have seen how much their children have learned and grown in a matter of months.

Liam and Ryder have been accepted to Gardendale Elementary, Pre-K 4 SA’s new partner. The Montiels plan to stay involved in their children’s education and only seek out high-quality programs which truly make a difference.

Classroom inclusion makes all the difference

children play with water hoe and bottles outside

Delia Ruiz was sure that her 4-year-old son, Dylan Granato, was more than ready to start Pre-K. He was a sharp, young boy who already knew his colors, shapes, and alphabet. She was excited to finally enroll her first child into Pre-K 4 SA.

But in a matter of two weeks, Delia received a call from the school asking her to meet to discuss a concern with her son.

Delia attentively listened as Mrs. Tamara Clary, Dylan’s teacher, and Kimberly Juarez, behavior specialist at the South Education Center, explained how Dylan came in with self-regulation issues, lacked communication skills, and would push and shove his peers.

“He was having a hard time, behavioral wise, with sharing and transitions, and a lot of things. So I thought, ‘Do I need to take him out of school?’ I started thinking that he was an issue!” Delia said. “I had mixed emotions and I didn’t know what to do.”

But what Delia soon realized was that Pre-K 4 SA personnel didn’t allow her to feel alone. Better yet, they acted with genuine personal interest and began to explain that Dylan was demonstrating characteristics of autism. He stayed in the standard classroom but the Pre-K 4 SA team created a plan of action to help Dylan.

Pre-K 4 SA is an inclusive environment, and part of the reason we use the HighScope curriculum is that even children with special needs are able to engage in the classroom and still be a part of it in an authentic way.

“Inclusion is very important for children with special needs because they learn from their peers. In a classroom, they get to be with children their age and have social situations through which they learn to interact with one another,” Clary said.

After the initial meeting, Delia implemented the recommendations provided by Pre-K 4 SA’s Social and Emotional Learning Team. At the same time, she educated herself about behavioral issues and autism. She researched online articles on the topics, sought out local groups, and even enrolled in a Parent Leadership Academy at Region 20.

Delia realized that consistency and teamwork are very important in order for Dylan to continue learning. Not only does she have to continue learning about these topics, but since Dylan has a close relationship with his grandparents, she also has to pass on this knowledge to them.

Delia’s determination to find a solution for her child underscores the vital role parents play in their children’s education. And when parents, teachers, and behavioral specialists work together, children thrive.

“The better educated a parent is about what is going on with their child, the better advocate they can become. As they move through different school systems and through life, they can help support their child,” said Maria Bayoumi, Pre-K 4 SA’s licensed specialist in school psychology.

Dylan’s mother, family, and Pre-K 4 SA staff noticed that in a matter of only six months he’s come a long way!

Josylnn Benitez, teacher assistant, and Elisandra Guajardo, a Trinity University graduate and candidate for a master’s in school psychology, assist Dylan on a daily basis with his class activities. They both make sure he follows a personalized schedule and they continuously help him strengthen his social and communication skills.

At the beginning of the year, Dylan struggled to make new friends but now every morning, his peers are anxiously waiting for him. Even though strengthening skill deficits is an ongoing process, Dylan is smart and learns very quickly.

When you mention Dylan’s name to the South Education Center staff members, you can’t help but notice their faces light up. His impactful experience here at Pre-K 4 SA has touched so many and his experience demonstrates the importance of inclusion.

“We are lucky to have him and hope Dylan stays connected with us because we know he will achieve great things in life,” Benitez said.

Currently, Dylan is undergoing evaluations for autism; however, Pre-K 4 SA’s focus is the identification and targeting of skill deficits, and providing meaningful inclusion instead of solely focusing on obtaining a diagnosis label. We want children, like Dylan, to be ready for Kindergarten and to excel for the rest of their lives.