Not Yet 3, Her Children Couldn't Wait to Go to School
Connecticut Community Foundation grant: $22,500 over three years
The Leever Foundation grant: $8,143 over two years
Naugatuck Savings Bank Foundation: $4,500
Sharon Demers remembers when her daughters first got excited about going to school.
They were just 2½ years old and had attended a family reading night in a nearby town. The event was offered by the local Family Resource Center, a name given to family support and child development services located in public school buildings. The experience made such an impression on Sharon and her family that she was determined to bring the idea to Watertown.
“My children actually hugged me and thanked me when I took them to literacy events and asked if I would take them again,” she said. “I’ll never forget those moments. I wanted to see our children and our community benefit from these wonderful programs.”
Sharon saw an opportunity to propose the Family Resource Center two years ago when the town held its Community Conversation, a public forum on early childhood education supported by the Community Foundation. Parents and teachers got excited about the idea and formed a committee to move the project forward. They turned to the Connecticut Community Foundation for guidance and help with start-up funding.
Today, with Connecticut Community Foundation grants totalling $22,500 over three years and additional support from our partner foundations and other local funders, the Watertown Family Resource Center offers preschool teachers free professional development workshops, in addition to activities for parents and children. The hope is that preschool curriculum will better match what is being taught in kindergartens. In addition, preschool teachers can learn about services that the public schools can provide for younger children, even before they enroll in kindergarten.
“We want to recognize that everything is related,” said Layne Allison, a teacher who coordinates the Family Resource Center. “The more we collaborate, the more we are going to be able to offer our children.”
