Building for the future of POTA

Ettie Zaklos, Founder & Director

The beginning of 2024 brought an exciting milestone as Preschool of the Arts broke ground on its brand-new 17,000-square-foot building! Since its inception, Preschool of the Arts has been innovating, enhancing and broadening its program. It started as a fledgling preschool with a vision of an excellent early childhood education and my two daughters as the first students enrolled in the school. There was a dream of bringing together early childhood educators who are driven to give 100% of themselves, reach greater heights and love and nurture confident and creative young learners.

That dream became a reality with exponential growth. Community events are standing room only, educational programs have reached maximum capacity, and our award-winning preschool has long outgrown the campus. We recently opened enrollment for Summer of the Arts 2024 and nearly reached capacity on the very first day. It is both flattering and humbling to see the popularity of our programming, especially entering our 20th summer camp year.

Some may see our long waiting lists as a sign of success. But for us at POTA, having to deny children essential education or a meaningful summer camp experience is not something we can abide by.

As we look to build tomorrow’s leaders, we are obligated to take a step forward and build something bigger and better. For years, we dreamt of expanding our campus so that we can provide the POTA experience to many more deserving children. It is thrilling that construction has finally begun and it is happening! We have partnered with an incredible contracting team that is aiming to get the new building up and move-in ready within 12 months. The building will transform learning with new classrooms, a children’s library, a STEM center and innovative communal spaces. We are building a space where children can learn, campers can play, teens can connect and our community can gather and celebrate.

None of this would have been possible without our incredibly generous donors who have helped fund the $7.5 million project. Jay and Patty Baker, our namesake donors, led the way with their visionary leadership, inspiring so many others to give. We celebrate and honor every single donor – big and small alike – helping us meet our fundraising goal and build our future.

We are proud to share that we have successfully raised $6 million to date, with only $1.5 million left to reach the finish line. But we still really need your support! We turn to our incredible Naples community to ask for your partnership to enable us to complete this major phase of our growth. Please consider donating today at www.NaplesBigBuild.com so that we can continue to build the leaders of tomorrow.

In the meantime, we get down to business, both at the construction site and in our classrooms, which will continue to serve and educate students without interruption. Our children have always come first and there is so much learning in store this school year, this summer and for many exciting years to come. We cannot wait to get started and hope you will join us!