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Danbury — When Danbury School Readiness began 25 years ago, it served 75 children in five classrooms, helping young children prepare for kindergarten.

Since then, over 10,000 preschool children have benefited from the program, funding over 400 preschool spaces in 33 classrooms and serving over 1,000 children in the Danbury area. I’m here.

With the help of a dedicated staff (and a beloved teddy bear who recently became a children’s book star), the program caters primarily to low-income people while helping children adjust to the school environment. I’ve been supporting you.

92% of families enrolled in the program are from Danbury, but 83% of families earn less than 75% of the state median income.

The program has been successful in terms of performance disparity, as children from low-income families who participate in the program tend to do well. The same is true for students who speak English as a second language.

“We found that children who were English Language Learners (ELLs) developed more rapidly than non-ELL children. “Low-income children start much lower on initial skill assessments, but are more likely to attend quality programs.” Then their growth will be astronomical.The achievement gap will shrink.”

Program members were recognized on August 26 by elected officials during the annual Toddler Day for their contributions to the program. This included educators who created children’s books for students and others who advocated for the program.

bearington bear

Among the winners was Jennifer Traver, who has been an early childhood education consultant for the program since 2015, but as the pandemic hit and in-person learning was put on hold, she found new ways to contribute. .

“At the height of the pandemic, many of our families were understandably reluctant to involve their children in personal care,” Traver said. As a result, we decided to offer a free online preschool program so families can stay connected and continue learning from us without face-to-face.”

Costello and Traver began working towards implementing an online class structure.

Thirty-eight children were enrolled in three free online preschool classes run by Traver.

As class began, Traver introduced the students to Bearington. Bearington is a teddy bear that stands on its own in no time.

“Originally, Bearrington was my fuzzy co-teacher, and it helped ease the anxiety the kids were feeling, because it was a very different format for kindergarten,” Traver said. eventually fell in love with Bearrington and he became part of the class.”

As a “member of the class,” Bearington became an identifiable character to the children, and the idea was born.

Traver planned to deliver bags of school supplies to students’ homes so that they would have the resources they needed for their online classes. She added a surprise to the bag.

After taking pictures of Bearrington at various locations on his phone, Traver created a PowerPoint to tell the accompanying story. She sent the PowerPoint to her Newtown resident, Phil Keane, who owns Blue Sky Farms Productions, for a book.

“In my bag, I had a book called Bearington Goes to Preschool, which sort of documented his experience with online learning,” Traver says. “It was such a hit that I got emails and phone calls from my parents asking for his second book.”

Since then, Bearington’s children’s book series has become a mainstay of preschool programs.

Traver has written two more books. “Bearington Around Danbury” features photos of stuffed animals at Danbury landmarks such as malls and libraries, and “Bearington is not Afraid” focuses on stressful events in children’s lives. to a doctor or dentist.

“I had no idea it would take off,” said Traver. “Initially, it was a way to keep our kids’ anxiety levels low and connect us during the pandemic. If you can, I’d be most grateful.”

These books are now available in English, Spanish and Portuguese for all nine Danbury preparation programs. Traver plans to produce her fourth installment.

“The teachers asked me to write another book, ‘Bearington Goes to Kindergarten,’ to help ease the anxiety of preschool children.” I will consider it.”

There are also plans to make the book available in the Danbury Library when the hardcover copy is produced. Traver also hopes to mass print to distribute copies to other nonprofits dedicated to educating young children.

“We are subsidized and the books are free, so it all depends on the budget,” says Traver. “Depending on the funds, I would like to deliver it to people who want it.”

Traver was honored for his contributions to the program and for being presented with the series last Friday by Mayor Dean Esposito.

“I was not only surprised, I was honored,” said Traver. “The Bearington project has been a lot of fun, but honestly, all early childhood educators should be recognized for their dedication and hard work.”

Preparing for Danbury School

Over 200 early childhood teachers attended the annual Toddler Day, highlighting the scope of the program.

“This year we had about 220 participants from the Danbury area who came to our childhood days,” said Irene Costello. “This shows that the professional development of early childhood teachers in our area of ​​the state is much needed.”

Costello and Donna DeLohy received a legislative award from State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) for their decades of dedication to the program. Both have been involved with the program for nearly its entire life and have seen its growth firsthand.

Costello has participated in the program since 1999 and was recognized as a supporter of the program.

“I have always tried my best to maintain good relations with the legislature, so I can bring issues that affect families to Hartford during the legislative session,” Costello said. As Senator Kushner said, I spoke loud enough to hear me all the way to Hartford.”

Delohery has worked with EDAdvance for over 20 years, helping early childhood programs statewide to achieve accreditation through the National Early Childhood Education Association.

“What she does is go around the state and help programs get accredited by NAEYC. This is quality,” Costello said. She’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet She’s the real deal It’s the perfect way to express her program Every time she works on , she gives it her all.”

Delohery is technically retiring from the program, but retirement has other implications within the program.

“She’s not retired. She’s partially retired this year,” Costello said. “I always joke that no one here fully retires because we always bring them back to work on projects.”

The program also offers training for teachers and operates year-round.

“At School Readiness, we offer training all year round,” Costello said. “It’s a great opportunity for people in the field to come and get low-cost training on topics that really matter. We cover everything from health and safety to curricular topics.”

Several programs in other parts of the state have been forced to close, but due to the amount of funding the programs receive, it has recently become difficult to retain teachers.

“My big motto for the past few years has been school preparatory programs that are all licensed, accredited, and of high quality, and since 2015, when the minimum wage was $9.15, the increase (in funding) has been There weren’t any,” said Costello.

The minimum wage is now $14 an hour, but “the state salary hasn’t changed,” she said.

“This is forcing our programs to make difficult decisions. Programs across the state are closing classrooms because they can’t afford to pay their teachers and are short staffed,” she added. rice field.

Danbury School Readiness is operating at full capacity despite the difficulties and still has openings for families with young children this year.

“Since COVID, many are hesitant to put their children back in group settings. Numbers are down across the state,” Costello said. “But our programs are all open and open. We are ready and open from June 2020, so I feel safe when it comes to health issues.”