Charlotte Mecklenburg More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program

Initiated by former Governor Mike Easley, More at Four is a voluntary pre-kindergarten program designed to prepare at risk four-year-old in North Carolina for success in school. High quality childcare centers partner to provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum and structured environment for students. More at Four serves children who will be entering kindergarten the following year and are at risk for poor school outcomes. Factors that put children at risk for poor school outcomes include low income, limited English proficiency, identified disability, chronic health condition and developmental or educational need. (www.cms.k12.nc.us/programs/PreKservices/MoreatFour.asp).

The CMS Pre-Kindergarten curriculum, Opening the World of Learning (O.W.L.), incorporates all domains of learning, including social-emotional, cognitive, language, communication and physical development. This comprehensive curriculum integrates language and literacy skills through rich content in social studies and science, favorite children’s books, non-fiction books, songs, and poems.

The language skills in the O.W.L curriculum include conversation (speaking and listening), vocabulary development, book and print awareness, phonemic awareness, letter identification and writing. Integrated mathematics skills include number sense, numeration, spatial sense, measurement, geometry, and patterns. Science and social studies and the arts are woven throughout the day.

The OWL curriculum provides the tools to implement six thematically organized units: Family, Friends, Wind and Water, the World of Color, Shadows and Reflections, and Things That Grow. The content of each unit is built around a carefully crafted, active daily routine. The O.W.L schedule includes a “Morning Meeting”, center time, story time, “Songs, Word Play and Letters,” small groups, and “Let’s Find Out About It.” Activities within these components are designed to encourage conversations, social skills and concept knowledge.

In addition to language, literacy and math skills, participation in Pre-Kindergarten fosters the development of the whole child (www.cms.k12.nc.us/programs/PreKservices/curriculum.asp). Since 1999, Seigle Avenue Preschool has run a More at Four Pre-K classroom, graduating over 150 children who are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten.

Seigle Avenue Partners After School Program

Seigle Avenue Partners' mission is to build hope into the lives of students and families living in Charlotte's fragile inner-city communities through free programming aimed at assuring school success. Partners serves this mission by providing affordable, quality afterschool programs, parent education, and Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® summer programs for students living in poverty in Charlotte. Partners is committed to working in collaboration with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and community organizations to expand its summer Freedom Schools and school year programming to meet the needs of at-risk students when school is not in session.

http://www.seigleavenuepartners.org

Jacob’s Ladder Job Training Center

In 1998, Seigle Avenue Presbyterian began to reach out to the habitually unemployed and underemployed and help them find and keep living wages jobs through the Jacob’s Ladder Job Center. Over the last five years, over 1,000 have received job counseling and help in finding and keeping a job.

http://www.jacobsladdercharlotte.org