By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK
Register Reporter
The generation gap aims to narrow this fall when a USD 257 preschool opens at Windsor Place in Iola.
The project grew out of a Windsor Place initiative to improve the life of its clients, said the Coffeyville-based company’s Executive Director Monte Coffman.
The addition of a classroom on site “enhances options for residents, from greeting (children) in the morning with a warm smile, to reading to them or participating in activities sessions,” Coffman noted.
The company already has established kindergarten classrooms in its facilities in Coffeyville and Jenks, Okla., Coffman said.
That was the model the agency proposed to USD 257 this spring, said Windsor Place Iola’s Administrator Linda Harrison.
However, said Superintendent of Schools Craig Neuenswander, the need here was for a preschool location.
“We really wanted to expand and add a classroom” to the current preschool program, which has been based out of Iola’s elementary schools, Neuenswander said.
The Windsor location — complete with a private outdoor patio — could meet that desire, Neuenswander said. With Windsor offering the school district use of the room for $1 a year, the board opted to secure the site.
When it was clear two preschool classrooms weren’t in the coming year’s budget, Neuenswander said the board decided to house the class at Windsor anyway.
“They’ll still be under regular school rules,” Neuenswander said of the students. “It will be just like any other classroom.”
Maybe not.
Preschool teacher Heather Maley intends to have the room painted in bright, stimulating colors. There is a refrigerator and sink at one end dedicated to class use. Observation windows along one wall will let the generations spy back and forth.
And there’s that private patio, with winding path, green space and a cement bench, ready to be filled with the happy shouts of kids at play.
In addition to the patio, Windsor is putting in an age-appropriate playground for the four- and five-year-olds in their main fenced yard.
“The fenced yard where the playgrounds equipment will be placed is an area residents have access to,” Harrison noted.
And, thanks to the addition of the equipment, “we’ll have more concrete around — paths for tricycles and the like — that will be good for residents” allowing seniors to walk along smooth, even surfaces, rather than uneven ground.
Playground equipment is being purchased with help from Iola Rotary Club and a city involvement task force, Harrison said, although funds are still needed. Kids Creation in Garnet will deliver and set up the equipment free of charge once it is purchased, she said.
“IT’S REALLY very exciting,” Neuenswander said of the new class.
Planned are joint exercise classes for the tikes and their elder companions. Story hours and meal times may also be coordinated, Coffman said.
As for health concerns, Coffman said, “children attending school in Windsor Place ended up missing fewer days of school that those in the regular school buildings.”
That was credited to the constant wipe-down of nursing home interiors, and the fact that residents’ health is regularly monitored.
“I think, for kids, this is a great opportunity for them to have experiences they may not get anywhere else,” Maley said. “They can learn to be around people that are different from us.”
Two sessions will be offered, Neuenswander said. The morning session runs from 8:15 to 11:15 a.m., with optional breakfast beforehand. Afternoons run from 12:15 to 3:15, with optional lunch at 11:50 a.m.
In addition to Windsor residents, preschoolers will also interact with upper level high school students, Neuenswander said.
“We’ll have a high school program in conjunction with Allen County Community College,” where students interested in early childhood education can get credit toward a college degree in that field, he said.
Parents interested in having their children attend the new preschool should stop by the USD 257 district office, 408 N. Cottonwood or 365-4700, for an application form.
Although the program targets at-risk children, guidelines for eligibility through the State Department of Education are not solely income based, Neuenswander said.
“There’s a lot of people who qualify who might not think they do.”
Openings are still available. Classes begin Aug. 19.
Guidelines and an application can be mailed if need be, Neuenswander said.
7.19.10
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