Follow along to see the critical thinking skills and active learning built into each step of the day.
Looking for fun summer activities for the whole family? There are dozens of budget-friendly options around town that will keep your kids learning and playing until the fall semester begins. Be sure to visit each website below to confirm the most recent hours and pricing.
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Summer is right around the corner, and with it comes the potential for children to experience summer learning loss (SLL), aka the “summer slide” — when students are not in school over the break and could forget some of the knowledge and skills they gained during the previous school year. Here are four ways your child can avoid losing last year’s progress.
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Happy Fiesta from Pre-K 4 SA! This year’s Fiesta San Antonio medal is particularly special to us because it showcases our newest addition to the Pre-K 4 SA family: 3-year-olds. Enjoy these coloring pages featuring the design.
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As part of Pre-K 4 SA’s family engagement, Ready to Work will be onsite throughout the school year to assist parents in registering, checking application status and answering any questions.
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Pre-K 4 SA believes that supporting a child–along with their entire family–helps children build a successful learning foundation for life. That’s why our Family Engagement Team collaborates closely with teachers, administrators, and staff. The team’s mission is to encourage educational potential in the home, engage families in school leadership, and build on each family’s unique strengths and abilities to cultivate a thriving environment that is sustainable.
We are educating families as a whole through positive parent-child relationships, leadership strategies, and ways to bridge the gap between the living room and the classroom.
Our programs engage families in two-way communication because families are their children’s first and most important teacher.
One of our most successful Pre-K 4 SA Family Engagement programs is called Parents as Partners, which gives families a front-row seat to their children’s educational experience. Each center has a Parent Partner Group that works together to build community, engage in the classroom, and provide overall support to teachers and staff.
There are many programs that families can be involved in at Pre-K for SA. H-E-B Read 3 program selects 25 families from each center and provides one book a month to children to build their reading skills. The Gracias program engages children and their families by partnering local artists with classrooms, and visiting signature sites around San Antonio. Students then create artwork in collaboration with the artist based on their experiences, and the artwork is then exhibited and auctioned for charity. These are just a few ways families can engage in their child’s learning at Pre-K 4 SA.
From planning school events and addressing common concerns, to serving as an advisory committee on curriculum and activities, groups work collaboratively to positively impact each campus. This collaboration includes the formation of parent-led working committees with specific outcomes aligned with curriculum, such as Raising A Reader, Gardening & Outdoor Play, and Parents Helping Parents.
Some of our highest utilized resources at Pre-K 4 SA are related to counseling, food assistance, and utility assistance. Our Counseling Support Services connect both adults and children to experts and resources for addressing various family hardships, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, or military leave.
Pre-K 4 SA’s Food Referral Services supports families who are facing food insecurity by connecting them to programs that can help. Examples include the San Antonio Food Bank’s shared produce distribution program and offering application assistance for WIC, SNAP, and PEBT benefits.
Utility Assistance and Housing Referrals help guide families who are dealing with disconnection notices and high bills, and support families who have lost housing assistance or are experiencing homelessness. We also connect families with agencies, emergency shelters, and temporary housing programs in times of need.
Family engagement is an everlasting relationship between Pre-K 4 SA staff and the children and families we serve. We are equipping families with the tools they need to be successful, not just for the years we have them–but for life. If you are a caregiver interested in any of the resources mentioned above or ready to become an ambassador of the program, please contact prek4sa@sanantonio.gov. If you are a community member looking to partner with Pre-K 4 SA’s Family Engagement Team, please contact virginia.sandoval@sanantonio.gov.
Written by: Virginia Sandoval
Check out the Pre-K 4 SA and Gardendale printable signs.
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Are you looking for affordable, family-friendly activities for the summer?
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I was thrilled to see more than 1,400 alumni families and children join us recently for our 2nd Annual Pre-K 4 SA Family Reunion!
Our Pre-K 4 SA staff worked their magic to make this event possible. Because of the pandemic, the team had to transform the event from a large in-person gathering to a drive-thru experience. Using strategy and imagination, the team turned Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium parking lot into a celebratory fair-like parade full of activities, books and Pre-K 4 SA giveaways, and food for everyone in attendance. The children’s faces beamed as they interacted with their teachers and played games from the safety of their cars. After so many months of limited interaction, I know all of us were glad to enjoy a beautiful fall day in San Antonio.
Seeing the children’s gleaming smiles during the Family Reunion as they passed by reminded me of the very first time I visited a Pre-K 4 SA Education Center. As I drove up to the building, I wasn’t sure what to expect. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary early learning center. Everything changed when I stepped inside. From the moment I entered the building, I was completely blown away. I’ve had a long career in education, and seen schools across the world, but nothing like Pre-K 4 SA. It was classroom after classroom, filled with joyful children and teachers engaged in playful learning and families who are strongly committed to their children’s education. Then I learned that there was not just one Pre-K 4 SA Education Center but four, and that this bold initiative included professional learning and grants for other programs across the city. I couldn’t believe it. It was at that moment that I decided I just had to be part of this program. Every day since, I have been grateful that I am.
Pre-K 4 SA is proud to be leading San Antonio’s effort to develop a world-class workforce through high-quality early childhood education for all children in San Antonio. After the first eight years, Pre-K 4 SA had proven that a city can transform its early learning landscape through a comprehensive approach that includes:
Education Centers
Pre-K 4 SA’s four model education centers serve as demonstrations of what is possible when young children have access to highly skilled teachers and an evidenced-based curriculum, as demonstrated in the 2019 community impact study. San Antonio serves as a model in municipal early childhood programs and Pre-K 4 SA regularly hosts delegations from across the country and the world. In fact, Pre-K 4 SA has provided tours and facilitated detailed conversations with more than 25 municipalities, 3 international entities, and the US Department of the Army.
With research to demonstrate the success of Pre-K 4 SA’s approach, Pre-K 4 SA is supporting other programs to replicate our proven practices. We launched our first replication site in August 2019 at Gardendale Elementary School in Edgewood ISD. The Gardendale Early Learning Program powered by Pre-K 4 SA is creating greater capacity for high-quality early childhood education in San Antonio. Working side-by-side, Pre-K 4 SA and Edgewood are creating a model Pre-K through 2nd grade early learning program.
Professional Learning
Pre-K 4 SA believes that every child deserves high-quality early education. Pre-K 4 SA’s comprehensive approach includes educating 2,000 4-year-olds annually, providing over 10,000 hours of professional learning for educators, and developing parents as educational advocates. The Pre-K 4 SA Professional Learning division offers free, best-in-class training to any early learning educator in San Antonio serving children birth through third grade. Our comprehensive approach includes workshops, seminars, network events, and job-embedded coaching.
Pre-K 4 SA hosts in-service training for roughly 3,000 teachers, school principals and district administrators, early education leaders, and community providers annually. Through Pre-K 4 SA’s comprehensive Professional Learning Program, the number of highly skilled PK-3rd grade early childhood educators across San Antonio measurably increases each year.
Competitive Grants
Pre-K 4 SA provides over $4.2 million in grants annually to early learning programs across the city, benefitting all of San Antonio’s young children and their families. Pre-K 4 SA provides training and resources to early education teachers throughout our city, and supports and enhances other pre-kindergarten programs as well.
Pre-K 4 SA’s Grants program adds teachers, training and technology to San Antonio’s early childhood landscape annually. The funds create more access to high-quality curriculum for San Antonio’s 4-year-olds in public, parochial and child development centers.
Family Engagement
At Pre-K 4 SA, we believe stronger families make a stronger educational landscape. We believe that by supporting the entire family helps children build a successful learning foundation. Our Family Engagement Team collaborates closely with teachers, administrators, and staff to encourage educational potential in the home, engage families in school leadership, and build on each family’s unique strengths and abilities.
Most recently, Pre-K 4 SA coordinated a partnership with Vooks, the leading streaming service for children’s books, to provide a free, one-year subscription of Vooks to children and early learning teachers across Bexar County. Made possible by a contribution from Charles Butt, Pre-K 4 SA and its partners will tackle the challenge of limited book access for young children by putting the Vooks library of animated storybooks and specially designed learning guides in the hands of early learning educators and families with a 4- to 6-year-old child.
In Bexar County, where three in five children are economically disadvantaged and more than 30% are not reading on grade level by third grade, the need for early access to books is tremendous. Reading on level by third grade is a critical indicator of future academic success. Children who have access to books at home are much more likely to reach this important milestone. The Vooks platform brings books to life in a kid-safe environment. As part of this partnership, Pre-K 4 SA facilitated additional partnerships with the San Antonio Public Library Foundation (SAPLF) and BiblioTech, Bexar County’s all-digital public library, to extend the distribution of the subscription program and access to Wi-Fi to families across Bexar County. BiblioTech will allow families to check out personal hotspots for home access to Vooks.
Through Pre-K 4 SA’s first eight years since its inception, we have provided a high-quality education model that empowers our children at such a critical age for academic and even life success.
By 2021, Pre-K 4 SA will have impacted more than 452,161 four-year-olds within the San Antonio community. Pre-K 4 SA’s bold initiative is changing the landscape by developing a more productive workforce, healthier and more engaged families, less poverty, and civic-minded young adults to take San Antonio into the future. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this incredible work and together we can continue providing young children with a high-quality education for a brighter future.
For more information on how Pre-K 4 SA is changing the landscape, click the following link: https://prek4sa.com/program-overview/
Written by: Sarah Baray, Pre-K 4 SA CEO
As Spring Break 2020 approached, Pre-K 4 SA students and their families were ready for a well-deserved break. However, no one realized spring break would extend into distance learning from home through the end of the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pre-K 4 SA acted quickly by collaborating with the San Antonio Food Bank and began food distributions the following week at its four education centers for families needing support. Leadership and teachers knew the importance of providing families with the healthy meals and snacks the children were accustomed to receiving during the regular school day. At the same time, the Pre-K 4 SA family engagement team acknowledged that parents and children would need more support and resources than ever.
Pre-K 4 SA believes in the importance of supporting families to help children have a successful learning foundation. Because education would continue at home, parent liaisons from Pre-K 4 SA’s education centers needed to find innovative ways to provide families a helping hand.
At the start of the school closure, the family engagement team quickly learned which parents could not attend the food distributions due to lack of transportation or poor health. Food items and first aid supplies were delivered to those Pre-K 4 SA families that needed assistance but could not make it to one of the centers. Each week, the team continues to reach out to parents to ensure they have food and their necessities are covered.
The family engagement team also researched local resources to share with families. Parent liaisons provided information related to diaper banks, rental assistance, and how to navigate eviction notices. One main source of information and support services Pre-K 4 SA shares is the City of San Antonio-Municipal Government Facebook page. On this page, the Emergency Assistance program supports the San Antonio community by paying rent, mortgage, internet and utility payments. Families can also qualify for a program that helps them receive direct cash assistance to help them with groceries, medical and gas expenses.
“With Pre-K 4 SA, our families feel they have a good support system that helps them and cares for them during this time of need,” said Virginia Sandoval, family engagement supervisor at Pre-K 4 SA.
The family engagement team began connecting with parents via Zoom video conferencing to continue the Parents as Partners sessions. This program was designed by Pre-K 4 SA to allow parents to engage in conversations collectively and to provide support to one another. The family engagement team saw the necessity to continue Parents as Partners during this time of uncertainty. Maria Montiel, parent liaison with the Gardendale Early Learning program, hosts weekly Zoom meetings for parents to connect and continue their support group. In an effort to accommodate parents’ schedules, Montiel creates flexible evening times for parents.
Montiel noticed that many parents were experiencing anxiety and other mental health struggles. The family engagement team came together and created a bi-weekly, hour-long exercise Zoom class just for parents. The team believes that by helping parents stay active together, they can combat the anxiety which has been triggered by this global pandemic. If you are a current Pre-K 4 SA parent and would like more information about the Parents as Partners program or exercise Zoom class, you may contact Virginia Sandoval at 210-206-2904.
“Parents as Partners is such a great program with the latest resources! I was struggling during this time but I was able to reconnect with other families which provided me with support and encouragement,” said Cassie Jones, a Gardendale Early Learning program parent. “In return, I felt I could also help other families experiencing distress during this pandemic by helping create a Zoom Family Fit program for all parents.”
Parent liaisons are continually performing home visits with families in an effort to connect them with teachers to continue high-quality early learning for the children. When needed, electronic devices, such as iPads, have been distributed to families for children to continue their learning from home and communicate with their teachers.
Additionally, Pre-K 4 SA just launched its Online Resource Center, providing families with more high-quality instruction material. Our educators collaborated to bring together instructional videos to not only share with Pre-K 4 SA families, but with the entire San Antonio community. In the Online Resource Center, you will find intuitive learning videos, read-alouds, bilingual instructions, and activities to support our youngest learners to continue their education at home.
Pre-K 4 SA wants parents to know that if they need anything—related to pre-k or not—to reach out to their child’s teacher or a parent liaison from their designated center. They are ready to help and connect families with needed internal and community resources.
“The traditional school year may be over for our children, but our families will remain a part of Pre-K 4 SA forever because of the bond we have created over the last few weeks,” said Felicia Williams, parent liaison at Pre-K 4 SA.
Your outdoor space offers a world of learning experiences your children will enjoy.
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