Discovery Gateway Voluntary Prekindergarten

 

 

 

Voluntary Prekindergarten

discoverygateway@arc-gateway.org

916 East Fairfield Drive
Pensacola, FL 32503
850-434-7755


Discovery Gateway Early Childhood Learning Center

Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Program

 

Discovery Gateway is proud to offer VPK classes! VPK develops pre-reading, pre-math, language and social skills; and it helps give children the foundation they need to be successful in school.

 

Children enrolled in Discovery Gateway's VPK program will learn through a creative curriculum that uses fun monthly themes to introduce lessons in reading, science, math, geography, history, art, drama, music, social skills, physical education, health and cooking. For example, if the theme for September is "animals," lessons and activities might include reading stories about zoo animals, doing art projects with jungle beasts as the subject and participating in scientific activities that focus on farm critters.


The lead teacher for Discovery Gateway's VPK is Beth Ramirez and the assistant/afternoon instructor is Sabra Wing. Beth Ramirez has been teaching for 21 years. In addition to holding an Associates of Arts, Beth also has her Florida Child Care Professional credentials and is completing her BA in early childhood education. During the six years that Beth has been with ARC Gateway and Discovery Gateway, she served as a classroom teacher, a developmental support services specialist for the Pearl Nelson Center and the interim director of Discovery Gateway. Drawing on her experience and training, Beth is excited about the low student-to-teacher ratios and the fact that the class size will not exceed ten children. Beth says that "small classes will make it possible for us to recognize and meet each child's unique needs and adapt our lessons to their learning styles."
 
VPK will be offered from 8:30 - 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. Wrap around care is available from 6:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. The fee for wrap around care is $100 per week and includes a morning and afternoon snack. Children in the wrap around care program do need to bring their own lunches to school.

 

It's important to know that if you live in Florida and have a child who turns 4 years of age by September 1, your child is eligible for Florida’s FREE VPK program.