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The Best Gift We Can Give to Our Children

The Best Gift We Can Give to Our Children

Smiles, laughter, tears, hugs, and “Congratulations” filled the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts (VVCA) as thirty-five children, dressed in red caps and gowns, walked through the doors and toward the stage for their Preschool Graduation Ceremony. Parents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and Guardians carried bundles of balloons and flowers almost larger than their graduates. The room was bursting with pride. Rafael Medina, IBA’s Senior Program Director, said this is the largest graduating preschool class the community has ever seen and he attributes this success to the strong foundation which the school was founded on. “We focus on five pillars - physical, socio-emotional, linguistic, cognitive and cultural development of children.” These pillars have become the basis for the multicultural school which has been named one of the Top 21 School Readiness Programs in Massachusetts. Putting it simply, Medina explained, “The origins of our preschool are founded in our community. The community decided they wanted to put a preschool together for their bilingual needs, that’s pretty much our DNA as a preschool—it’s all-around community and community building.” [caption id="attachment_6887" align="aligncenter" width="600"]PSblog01 Nyeli Pagán receives her preschool graduation certificate.[/caption] Our highly trained teaching staff has created a bilingual curriculum for the students based on each child’s unique strengths and background; and as the children ages two to five performed songs during the ceremony in both English and Spanish, it was clear that these teachings have taken a solid foundation in their lives. Many parents, both native Spanish speakers and solely English speakers, expressed their happiness at their child’s use of a second language. [caption id="attachment_6889" align="alignleft" width="300"]PSblog03 Sabrina Santiago poses for a photo with her son and daughter.[/caption] Sabrina Sterling, a parent of one of the graduates, expressed her initial concerns about sending her son to the bilingual preschool, “I was worried he wouldn’t fit in because it was mostly Spanish, but he did great!” [caption id="attachment_6890" align="alignright" width="200"]PSblog04 Ryan Simmons Sr. & Ryan Simmons Jr. smile for the camera after the graduation ceremony.[/caption] “It’s really good that he gets to go to a multicultural school and he gets to learn a little Spanish. I took Spanish for four years in high school and my Aunt is bilingual, so this is really helpful because he does use it [Spanish] a lot, especially at home,” Ryan Simmons Sr., father of graduate Ryan Simmons Jr., said. Janayra, a Puerto Rican native and a parent of another graduate, stressed the importance of the multicultural school, “I believe as a Spanish speaker myself, that it’s a part of their identity. Even though they’re born here they should know Spanish is a huge part of who they are and where they come from.” She emphasized the importance of language to all children no matter their background, “To have our children be bilingual is the best gift that we can give them as parents.” [caption id="attachment_6888" align="alignleft" width="200"]PSblog02 Janayra and Giovanni Santiago pose for a photo following the graduation ceremony.[/caption] Medina drew attention to other important aspects of IBA’s preschool, adding, “What really makes our preschool different, besides our bilingual program, besides our strong curriculum, besides a strong base for readiness that the kids that move to K2 will have, is that it’s a year-long program, so the amount of direct service and direct education that our students get through our preschool is strong.” Simmons continued to praise the program, and advised other parents to look to IBA for their child’s early childhood education, saying, “I would recommend this program to anyone.” Give your child the gift of starting their education in this proven successful academic environment by registering them now for this upcoming calendar year! For more information or to schedule a tour of our preschool contact Linnette R. Speel by email at lspeel@ibaboston.org or by phone at (617) 535 -1752....