Gov. Dannel Malloy stopped by Shelton’s Susanna Wesley School Monday (May 5) to highlight a program he said is a model for how private businesses can help children achieve academic success — and by doing so work to close the worst achievement gap in the country.
Seven children are enrolled at the school through a program established last year by Terry Jones, a local farmer and member of the state Board of Education, to fund preschool spots for kids whose families aren’t able to afford them.
And while the state legislature has approved funding to help thousands more children attend preschool statewide, the governor on Monday called that only a “down payment” toward getting Connecticut where it needs to be, and said programs like the one he visited Monday are an inspiring way to help close the gap sooner.
Last year Jones started the BEST program — “Businesses Enriching Scholars Together” — by establishing a fund at the Valley Community Foundation to help children from families whose socioeconomic situation prevents them from being able to afford preschool.
The Wesley School, an outreach program of the Huntington United Methodist Church, is piloting the program during the 2013 – 2014 school year.
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Click here to visit the BEST program’s website.
Malloy’s visit began with the governor looking in a “music and movement” lesson during which teacher Deb Redin led students in a drum circle singalong-and-dance to learn the names of animals.
Later, he sat in on a Spanish class in which teacher Sylvie Lobsenz led a group of 4‑year-olds in a song on the Spanish words for colors.
Malloy clapped along before asking children their favorite color (see video above).
After his tour the governor lauded the staff and children at the school for a “great visit” before saying that the state needs to prioritize getting more children into preschool programs like the one at Wesley.
“Too many kids in Connecticut don’t have access to early childhood education, which doesn’t make any sense … Under-stimulated children in young ages will not perform as well as they might have throughout the rest of their lives,” Malloy said.
Children who participate in preschool enter kindergarten with vocabularies 5,000 words richer than those who don’t.
“That’s a gap that is never made up,” the governor said.
While Malloy on Monday touted the passage of two bills he said will expand public offerings for early childhood education, he said private/nonprofit programs like BEST will be needed in the long run.
“Anyone who thinks that the new system is going to displace that simply doesn’t understand the reality of how many children need to be served,” Malloy said.
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Later the governor said programs like BEST will “work hand in glove” with public efforts to expand preschool to more children.
He said the state will initially prioritize its efforts to expand pre-kindergarten toward communities with “pockets of great poverty” — i.e. big cities.
“But (the problem) doesn’t stop at the borders of any one community,” he said.
Roberta Cenci, the Susanna Wesley School’s director, said the children in the BEST program “are doing beautifully,” adding that Monday’s lesson was on Cinco de Mayo, including making fresh Guacamole dip and fruit punch.
“All year long the teachers have been working hard with the children providing all the necessary skills they need to make a smooth and successful transition” to kindergarten, she said.
Photo:ethan fry Terry Jones talks at the Susanna Wesley School May 5.
“Every child has that natural sense of curiosity, and the desire to stretch, and to learn, and we all know how we see it in their eyes, and it’s a light that thrills every teacher and every parent,” Jones said. “Schools like Susanna Wesley are where the rubber meets the road.”
He thanked a number of local groups — among them the Valley Community Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce, School Readiness Council, TEAM Inc., United Way, and The Boys & Girls Club — for helping to launch the program.
“It’s really taken a community,” Jones said.
