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VPK Information
CCR&R Staff
Walk-Ins and Appointment Information
Winter 2012
Congratulations Marge Campany!
I am pleased to inform you that the board of the North FL Association for the Education of Young Children has unanimously selected Marge Campany to be our area’s outstanding child advocate for 2011.
She was selected for her high level of commitment to quality child care and the VPK program. Many of you know that she has demonstrated this through her enthusiastic workshops, and her non-faltering dedication to our North FL area providers.
When you see Marge please congratulate her and thank her on behalf of all early childhood educators and children for the great work she does.
Yours Truly,
Charlene Gross, FLAEYC President
Jennifer Barrera, NFAEYC President
Sis. Darlene Siebeneck, NFAEYC President-Elect
Thank You From a Child Care Provider
Lenora, Sharon and Sherry -
Thank you so very much for all the preparation and time you put into our parent meeting on Monday. The meeting was a 'huge' success and your participation for our parents was priceless!
Again, thank you for all of your help, confidence and assistance with helping us make [this center] a huge success for His children!
Cookies
One Family Child Care Home provider was very appreciative of the support ELC of Duval provided. To say thank you, the director baked cookies with the children in her care and delivered them to ELC of Duval.
Below is a picture of the children participating…..
Visit our media page to see our press releases, or check out ELC In The News to track our media coverage.
Fall 2011
Thank you family child care homes!
As a way of thanking some of Jacksonville's Family Child Care Home providers, ELC of Duval gave them materials for the children they serve.
Kizzy
ELC of Duval employee, Shirley Jones, helped Kizzy and her family navigate the enrollment process to recieve military insurance. The following letter is from Kizzy:
I just wanted to tell you that where ever you go I pray you are blessed and prosperous. I also wanted to thank you for helping me and my girls. After 7 years, they finally have health insurance and the DEERS id cards, they just got them last Tuesday. Thank you thank you thank you sooooooooo much! God bless you and I appreciated all your help!!!
Patrice
Letter from VPK parent:
"I’m really proud of the VPK-4 program. It has really helped my daughter and son during the year while they were four. It has been a pleasure to see how the early childhood development program really prepared them for kindergarten.
When my son, Zack, started kindergarten he was ready! He understood his numbers, shapes, spelling words and name by himself. This was his first year in school and Zack had 5 awards. When my daughter was in the program she had 8 awards at the end of the vpk-4 school year.
I’m a very proud parent. I like this program and I would highly recommend early child development learning for all 4 year olds."
Spring 2011
Letter from Parent in the Exceptional Family Member Program
Hi Shirley,
My husband has been emergency deployed to the war zone overseas. So as you can imagine with the stress of that and taking care of my children and my parents with health issues, this Respite program is a very critical component to my being able to have some time to myself. I appreciate EVERYONE whose efforts on a daily basis are making this program happen. I cannot begin to tell you how important this program is to our Navy EFM families right now with all the stresses we are dealing with.
Mrs. M
Carol Turknett, an Environmental Speacialist Coach at ELC of Duval, worked with Mrs. M at a child care center in the Quality Connections Program, which provides centers with information and resources to improve the quality of child care services they provide. Carol provided coaching support to the staff by giving everyone manuals for curriculum support, materials and furnishings for the classroom and showing the staff how to engage the children in learning activities.
When Carol returned for her next coaching visit, Mrs. M proudly said she was able to use the manual and classroom supplies to improve the quality of her center. They also rearranged the furniture to make more room for the children to play.
This story is a great example of how teachers can work hard and utilize the coaching support offered at ELC of Duval, for centers in the Quality Connections Program, and increase the quality of the program offered.
VPK Enrollment
Families often come to ELC of Duval to receive their Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) certificate, which allows them to enroll in Florida's FREE VPK program. When asked about the service he received during his child's enrollment into the program, the father responded saying, "The service was great and the enrollment process was so easy."
Winter 2011
Ms. Agnes
Infant teacher, Ms. Agnes, 81, raised a family that includes children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but she never earned her high school diploma, but this past year, Ms. Agnes worked hard and earned her GED.
The coach who helps improve Ms. Agnes' child care center tirelessly encouraged her to continue her education, and Ms. Agnes surprised everyone when she agreed to go back to school. When the coach further suggested she enroll in a CDA program, Ms. Agnes responded, “If I can finish this GED, I just might go on and get my CDA.”
Ms. Agnes is a shining example of adult education. We are all proud of Ms. Agnes and the example she sets for everyone that learning is a lifetime journey.
Andrea
Aundrea McNeal. registered her son, Amari, for the VPK program. He will be Ms. McNeal’s second child to complete VPK.
Her daughter, Aysia, who is now in second grade, is reading at a 5th grade level. Ms. McNeal attributes her daughter’s success to her participation in VPK because her teacher spent the extra hours teaching Aysia, which Ms. McNeal was unable to do herself. “Thanks for her success,” said Ms. McNeal, “I’m expecting the same success from [Amari].”
Ms. Alma
When Ms. Alma opened her center, there were few learning materials in the classrooms, children were playing with pieces of toys, and the toddlers were spending long periods of time in high chairs watching television.
Ms. Alma, had a true love for the children she watched yet had no real understanding of how to provide a quality learning environment. Upon working with ELC of Duval center coach, Laurie De La Cruz, Ms. Alma worked hard to purchase materials and implement the suggestions Coach De La Cruz made.
During the improvements to her center, she quickly discovered that the landlord would not make the needed changes to fix problems in the building, so she purchased another location. Ms. Alma and her husband spent many weekends working on the new center. The center opened with new staff, a new building and an environment that will foster early learning among the children.
Fall 2010
Christine
This is a message we received from Christine:
"My name is Christine. I've been putting together some online materials for a family sociology course, and I came across the parenting resource page at http://www.elcofduval.org/ccrr_families.asp. I wanted to send out a quick thank you - I've been using the page, and it's been a great deal of help."
Sarrena
Sarrena and her husband lost their jobs and went to numerous interviews, but, despite their efforts, they could not find employment. Not wanting thier daughter to enter kindergarten unprepared, they began teaching her at home. Sarrena called ELC of Duval to inquire about the School Readiness financial assistance program so she could get her daughter into an early-learning program.
Within 24 hours of calling ELC of Duval, she received a return call notifying her that her family was potentially elligible for the Success By Six scholarship grant. When she visited the office to apply for the grant, Sarrena began to cry because she was overwhelmed by the customer service and caring nature of our organization.
Terrie
Sybil Wilkes, the Provider Services Coordinator at ELC of Duval, visited with Terrie Durham, a grandmother who became an informal child care provider so she could care for her granddaughter, Tracy, when she was diagnosed with cancer. Upon hearing of 3-year-old Tracy’s recent diagnosis, Ms. Wilkes decided to visit little Tracy at her grandmother’s home. This is a shining example of how the staff at ELC of Duval cares for the families they help both in the office and in their daily lives.
Providers
Two years ago, Carol Turknett, the Assistant Team Leader of the Quality Initiative, started working with a small center operated by a husband and wife team. Carol assessed their center and notice a few spacial and furnishing concerns.
Upon Carol's recommendation, the couple worked many weekends building walls and storage shelves, putting in windows and painting. Carol worked with them as a team to improve the quality of the center. She would suggest tasks and they would work on and complete them, which led to a vastly improved facility.
They took before and after pictures of the center that are now proudly mounted on the wall of the welcoming area.
Summer 2010
Jenika Willis
Keisha Rogers-Rucker went beyond the call of duty when speaking with Jenika Willis regarding ELC programs. Ms. Willis described Keisha’s attitude as, “professional and helpful,” and she went on to say that Keisha, “is a very positive woman,” and how she appreciated her service. Way to go Keisha!
Mr. Florence
Mr. Florence came to the ELC office to register his grandson for VPK during his daughter’s deployment to Iraq. He expressed his sincere gratitude and thankfulness for the VPK Program, and also complimented CCR&R team member Liliana Ruiz-Rivera for her gracious help in enrolling his grandson into VPK. Mr. Florence also expressed his appreciation for the programs offered at ELC of Duval because they are providing stability for his family during his daughter’s deployment.
Shanita Smith
On her way to work, Shanita Smith stopped at the ELC office to register her child for VPK. She was able to come in and quickly enroll her child. Before leaving, Ms. Smith stated, “I’m so thankful that you all are so quick and efficient. I was afraid I would be late to work.” This is yet another example of how the ELC of Duval staff work to make VPK registration quick and the experience a pleasure.
Celina Kuitkowski
Ms. Kuitkowski emailed the following comment to our staff:
“Great job guys and gals!! Don’t change a thing. You are making our lives as parents easier. Thanks so much.”
What a great testament to the quality services the ELC staff provides for families!