Each week, we highlight a different school or profession at Clover Park School District. Last week, we showed our #CPSDPride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to the Early Learning Program (ELP) with program supervisor Karen Schreiber and teacher Keshia Harvey.
CPSD offers Head Start, Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Early Childhood Special Education at many locations in our district including Beachwood, Custer, Dower, Evergreen, Hillside and Tillicum elementary schools as well as the Early Learning Center.
The ELP is available for children ages three to five who will attend CPSD in the future. The program provides children with opportunities to learn and grow by learning skills they will need when they start attending school.
“This program is one of the best ways to get strong foundational learning and preparation for kindergarten and it provides children opportunities they may not have elsewhere,” ELP Supervisor Karen Schreiber said. “We have a quality program that focuses on the whole child with a lot of parent involvement to create an enriching experience for all children.”
ELP teachers plan meaningful daily lessons that encourage children to develop and practice behaviors such as persistence, empathy, problem solving and thinking skills. The program supplements the ways children are developing their young minds at home so students can enter kindergarten ready to learn.
“I love working with the children, staff and, of course, the families,” ELP Supervisor Schreiber said. “We have an amazing group of educators who love what they do and do it so well.”
This is Harvey’s first year working on the ELP team after transitioning to CPSD from Mukilteo School District where she taught kindergarten. “I’ve always been really passionate about early childhood learning, and it’s actually what I earned my master’s degree in,” she said. “When I saw there was an opportunity to come to preschool, I knew this could be a good fit.”
For many students, the ELP is the first time they participate in any sort of school environment. Additionally, because the students attending today were born during the COVID pandemic, they may not have even attended a daycare before joining the ELP. “It’s amazing to see how much growth they make on the social-emotional side,” Harvey said. “I see how they go from being shy and reserved to developing friendships, talking to each other and learning to play massive, elaborate games together.”
Though it’s fun to watch her students grow socially, Harvey’s favorite things to teach are letters and reading. “I’m really proud that I have preschoolers in my class who are starting to read,” she said. “We worked really hard on learning all of our letters and learning all of our sounds, so now that hard work is paying off, and they’re reading before kindergarten.”
Harvey loves working for CPSD because the students and families make this district special. “I feel like every day I get to go home with an inspiring story or something funny that a kid said or did, which just makes it fun to be in the classroom every day,” she said.
Go ELP team!
