An Update from The Children's Center

We've decided that the word to describe 2020 at the Children's Center is adaptable. When we re-opened in June and redesigned our processes to ensure the health and safety of staff and children, we hoped it would do everything necessary to keep everyone inside this special place protected. We have had to transform usual routines, remain focused on new procedures, never letting our guard down, all while adjusting to changes in the information on COVID. We are grateful to our parents for their ongoing support and compliance, to our staff for their incredible hard work and passion, and to our support base of donors for helping us to provide these essential services for our community. This month we send a special thank you to the Coastal Community Foundation and Wexford Plantation Charitable Fund for their adaptability and to The Eleanor A and Bernard H Breedlove Foundation and Community Foundation of the Lowcountry for providing grants in support of our programs.

Virtual School or No Virtual School

That is a good question! When Beaufort County Schools announced that school would open in a virtual forum, The Children's Center joined several community organizations to provide space for children to come and participate in their online classes while parents continued to go to work. In the past few weeks, Beaufort County has announced its plan to return to face-to-face classes for two days per week. The Children's Center remains committed to ensuring children have a place to come learn, play, and grow during those times the children are not in class.

Progress!

About 18 months ago, The Children's Center began a journey to create a system that tracks the developmental progress of each child based on the South Carolina Early Learning Standards. A devoted volunteer and friend of our Center, Ms. Andrea Siebold, has worked tirelessly to create individual student portfolios for teachers to use for the purpose of tracking each child's development. The portfolios have been designed to move from class to class and allow each teacher to work individually with each student to help them progress and develop along the continuum. This program also allows teachers to use the information to communicate with parents about their child's progress.

She Does It All!

Sometimes a person has a job description that specifically identifies the tasks for which they are responsible. The Children's Center has a very special lady who is always committed to doing whatever needs to be done. Mrs. Carmina is our Education Assistant. Her role is to help teachers be successful in their classrooms. Having been promoted from Assistant Teacher to her new role, Carmina excels in managing responsibility with mentorship and compassion.

Mrs. Carmina oversees many of the details of day-to-day life at The Children’s Center. Some of her many responsibilities include classroom scheduling, ensuring children are cared for when injured or sick, and serving as a translator for our Spanish-speaking parents and students.