Joyce Pre-School
Joyce Preschool’s website
Joyce Preschool in Minneapolis a two-way immersion, Spanish-English
preschool licensed by the Department of Human Services with a strong
emphasis on kindergarten readiness, second language acquisition, parent
involvement in education and development of early literacy skills.
Joyce offers monthly parent workshops for our Spanish-speaking parents.
All workshops include childcare and food, and the times vary to try
to allow the maximum attendance (about 75% of Latino parents have attended
at least one workshop this year). Parents form a supportive group
at the beginning of the school year, and together they identify concerns
or questions. The school invites community leaders to address these
topics. Topics include school readiness, school choice, healthy
nutrition, family violence, appropriate discipline, the effects of
television, access to public libraries, financial literacy, and more. Community
presenters include ECFE, Minneapolis Public Schools, Casa de Esperanza,
Minneapolis Public Library, University of Minnesota Extension, Media
Wise, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and more. Presentations are
in Spanish with culturally appropriate materials whenever possible. The
goal is to empower parents to be advocates for their children and give
them all the tools they need to support their children.
Parents are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom once a month. This
is a great help for giving students more individualized support, and
it also serves as great training for parents. They are much better
prepared to reinforce educational concepts at home when they have experienced
them first-hand in the classroom.
Teachers meet with parents one-on-one at least three times a year. School
readiness and the individual student’s progress is the focus
for these conferences. Home visits are a great tool for parents
and teachers, but are very time intensive. Parents also receive
a monthly newsletter in Spanish and English.
