CREC Opens Preschool in Coltsville Facility
Open House Scheduled for Wednesday, May 4 at 11:30 a.m.

(Hartford) – The Capitol Region Education Council is now accepting applications for enrollment in its new preschool, the River Street Early Learning Center. Designed to serve students ages 3-5, the center is located at 34 Sequassen Street in Hartford in the regional education organization’s brand new Coltsville facility.

An open house will be held on Wednesday, May 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will include lunch (pizza, salad and soda).

“The curriculum follows the Connecticut Benchmarks for Preschools, a framework designed to ensure that children obtain skills appropriate for their ages and that they should be demonstrating upon entering kindergarten,” said Jody Smith, lead teacher for the new preschool. “We’ll also meet with parents regularly to review their children’s activities and development.”

The classroom is setup into centers of activities that focus on different areas of development and encourage exploration and decision-making. These include centers for dramatic play, art projects, building blocks, language arts (reading and writing), toys for constructing, and science and nature. As the children’s skills increase, the number and complexity of the materials increase as well. For example, children will first work with Play-Doh alone, then the teachers will offer them complimentary tools to use with the Play-Doh as their manual dexterity develops.

Initially, the students will begin together in one classroom so that the younger and older children will learn from each other. At its capacity, the program will serve 42 children in three classrooms.

“At this age, children learn from experience. It is vital that children have the chance to actively touch, build and create with a wide range of developmentally appropriate materials,” said Smith.

The students at the River Street Early Learning Center will also have the opportunity to interact with students in CREC’s highly acclaimed River Street Autism Program. The autistic students benefit from the chance to interact with typically developing peers, and the typical preschool students benefit as well.

“The typical students learn empathy and how to handle differences appropriately. Learning alongside others with disabilities is something they will most certainly face in elementary school and beyond. Giving them those skills now – right from their first schooling experience – adds to their social development,” Smith said.

About CREC
CREC is a non-profit, regional educational service center serving 35 Greater Hartford public school districts. It was founded in 1966 by local school districts working together to solve common problems. Today, CREC administers more than 100 programs and services spanning the entire educational spectrum with the same goal in mind. CREC’s Division of Student Services strives to provide leadership in special education and support services, research-based practice, high student achievement and value-added extensions to programs and services of Greater Hartford school districts. For more information on CREC and the River Street Early Learning Center, please visit www.crec.org/rsspreschool.

###