Free Bilingual Preschool Opens!

On Monday, November 3rd, 20 children excitedly entered room 105 at Chautauqua for their first day of Mi Escuelita Spanish/English bilingual preschool. Earlier this year, Vashon Island School District secured an annual $150,000 grant to fund this groundbreaking free preschool program for income eligible families on Vashon.

Children began their day eating breakfast while teachers Sara Bennett and Lilia Longworth described the day ahead in English and in Spanish. Family support specialist Peggy Rubens-Ellis and Sally Adam were on hand to talk to parents and AmeriCorps member Deena Paz Hernandez joined the children at the table. This 6.5 hour per day preschool follows the school district calendar and will prepare children for kindergarten.  In addition to providing rich language exposure, children will receive healthy meals and provide participating families with health screenings and support.