Building blocks for future success

By Ettie Zaklos, Preschool of the Arts Founder & Director

September was filled with learning for both our students and our parents, as our award-winning program really kicked into high gear in the classrooms and the evenings provided ample opportunity for educational and community building events for our parent body. The highlight of the month was our annual Parent Curriculum night, which served to activate and strengthen the unique partnership between our talented school faculty and dedicated parent body.

The theme this year was “Learning is Under Construction.” At POTA, we know that young children are constantly constructing knowledge from their learning environments. It is our job as educators to cultivate their curiosity and help them build worlds of discovery and connection. Throughout the evening, parents learned how we can work together to help our children build a world of learning, the strong foundation during their formative years that will serve them for a lifetime.

At Preschool of the Arts, we are guided by our understanding of how young children learn best. Our program offers students the opportunity to develop the building blocks for future success — positive self-image, social skills, values, language communication and independence. Even at a very young age, children have an infinite potential to absorb knowledge. Our days are filled with opportunities to learn new skills, concepts and ideas, building on children’s natural curiosity and thirst for learning.

The construction theme also opened the door to share more about the very real construction beginning on our campus! Our Big Build expansion campaign is building a brand-new building with new classrooms, a STEAM room, children’s library, and so much more. Many of our POTA families partnered with us in support of this vital capital campaign ensuring that we will meet our goal of raising $2 million this year so we can unlock a generous matching challenge grant!

POTA's Art experiences, Little Chefs, imaginative play, gardening and sports foster a culture of wonder and discovery that is shared with friends.

Parents had the opportunity to join the prepping work for the upcoming construction by painting a collaborative paint-by-number mural to beautify the wooden construction boards that will be up for safety over the next few months. The excitement for the new space is building and we cannot wait to see it all come together!

This time of year, we also enjoy preparing for and celebrating the Jewish holiday season with our students, marking special days and learning all about our beautiful traditions. The classrooms were filled with apples, honeys, shofars and challahs as the children learnedall about the symbols and customs of the holiday.

Our holiday curricula are always supported by classroom learning and are enhanced with our extensive special programming, including music and performing arts, visual arts, sports, dance, gardening, science, Spanish and Shabbat Celebrations. Each special program is designed to maximize our school’s wonderful facilities and resources, such as our Nature Playscape, state-of-the-art playground, Marketplace, Garden of the Arts, and indoor and outdoor art studios.

On Rosh Hashanah, our center hosted a bevy of exciting family-oriented activities, including a well-attended Shofar and Tashlich service at the beach! The outdoor event allowed our families to gather in honor of the holiday and hear the Shofar blown on the special day. Children were well entertained with many exciting and educational activities and, of course, sweet holiday treats!

We were also honored to welcome our families for engaging adult services and offer a unique holiday program specifically geared to children. Spending Rosh Hashanah with our extended Preschool of the Arts families was a very meaningful experience that set the tone for an inspired and educational year ahead.