Escuela Viva Two

Since Escuela Vivas birth in July of 2004, the hope has been that we would be part of a group of educators leading the movement to professionalize early childhood education. At the heart of this desire lies the understanding that all children deserve a quality education. Additionally, no one will argue that many children, especially those from disadvantaged homes, start their educational career ill-prepared to learn. As a social worker working in the field of child abuse prevention I was surprised to learn that early childhood education is one of the key prevention strategies to prevent child abuse. Upon further research found that early childhood education is one of the key prevention strategies for many of our communities largest challenges including:

• Alcohol and drug abuse

• Teen and adult crime

• Violence prevention

• High school drop out

• Teen pregnancy

It would only make sense that more of our community resources would go to fund early childhood programs. Sadly this is not the case. In our efforts to be taken seriously we, Escuela Viva, have undertaken a series of endeavors to ensure that we will be taken seriously. The first step we undertook was moving into one space to house all of our programs and allow us the space necessary to grow one of our newest and most in demand programs, the infant and toddler program. We undertook this step and with time it is slowly becoming one of our biggest assets. The next step we undertook was the Oregon Programs of Quality. We created a very large portfolio to demonstrate that we are in fact a program of quality serving children ages 5 and under. Lastly, the step that we work on every day is nourishing our partnership with our parent community. Each of these steps is intimately intertwined; with no one aspect more important than the other. What is important to understand is that not one of these steps is complete; how could they be when understanding the developmental needs of children and their families is so dynamic? We wont ever be complete in our quest for improving our environment, nurturing our partnership with our parent community and most of all enhancing the quality of our program.

My hope, as the founder and director of Escuela Viva, is that in sharing this vision it will be more clear why we, the Escuela Viva staff, have been working so diligently on the Oregon Programs of Quality and eventually our accreditation with the National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); that you will understand why the training of our staff is so critical. This includes more in-service days for staff to have time to prepare classroom curriculum and the classroom environment. At that heart of all of our work is our partnership with the parent community; when we can all agree on this mission and work together, we can make a statement to our community that early childhood education is of value.

As the founder and director of the school, my commitment in this endeavor is to find the financial means to compensate all staff at a rate comparable to public school educators, work to create an infrastructure, with the assistance of the administrative staff, to allow teachers the time and support to be inspired in their work, and be politically active to enhance the early childhood education movement. Yet, to be truly successful it will require a staff and parent partnership that embraces this mission and a willingness to put forth the necessary efforts to demonstrate that the early childhood profession is not only of value but that the outcome of such a mission far outweighs the costs.

Child Ages:

6 months - 5 years

Licenses & Accreditations:

Oregon Employment Department - Child Care Division - NAEYC Accredited

Preschool:

Yes

Hours of Operation:

Monday - Friday 8:00am 5:00pm