Preschool combines park and school districts

Preschoolers and staff at Friendship Station are enjoying new digs this year after moving to Geneva Middle School South.

Friendship Station is a joint project of the Geneva Park District and the Geneva school district, and is in its 14th year.

It features four park district preschool classrooms and one school district preschool room.

Before, the park district classes met at the school district administrative headquarters in the old Fourth Street School, and the school district's instructional/booster class met at Harrison Street Elementary School.

"It made it hard for staff members to collaborate," said Darcy Thompson, coordinator of student services for Geneva School District 304.

They also have more room than at Fourth Street, and there are no stairs to climb up and down anymore (it was in the lower level at Fourth Street.)

The four park district preschool rooms are outfitted similarly and follow the same curriculum. Each classroom even has a computer on which kids can work.

"Sometimes it is very engaging, especially for the special-needs children," Thompson said.

Preschoolers may not know it, but they are learning while they play at various centers in the classrooms, be it the art table, a storytelling area, the snack table or a writing lab.

Even something simple like standing up and singing a song about bowing, shaking hands and saying "hello" has purpose: they are using gross motor skills, making eye contact with each other, and learning the importance of taking turns.

The preschools' 4-year-old classes use a curriculum that ties in to that used by the Geneva public schools.

"Where we live, early literacy is a real facet in our program," Thompson said.

It focuses on a different letter of the alphabet each week, for example, and works that in many of the activities. Phonics and phonemics are emphasized.

The park district classes can handle 20 kids apiece, and use four to five workers to do so.

The school district's instructional/booster preschool runs a smaller class. It is for students who have been identified, either by social service agencies or public developmental and school-readiness screenings, as needing more intense attention.

Often, they do better with fewer people and less sound stimulating them, Thompson said. They have specific individual education plans for those students.

Students with developmental delays and disabilities may be integrated to the park district classrooms. A special-education teacher and assistants are available, occupational and physical therapists visit from the Mid-Valley Special Education Cooperative, a speech pathologist is available and a school district psychologist and social worker have offices there. They also work with the middle schoolers and one elementary school.

"It is great to have integration," Thompson said.

A park district preschooler may need a little help improving something, but not warrant inclusion in the school district preschool. By running a combined operation, he can get that help more easily.

Physically, the new Friendship Station is getting rave reviews from the workers. It is in the eastern wing of the middle school, and has its own parking lot, turnaround area and entrance.

The classrooms are arranged around a central open area, which contains an area for the teachers to do planning and eat lunch, and an area where students can work one-on-one with aides or assistants.

There are also specialized rooms for physical and occupational therapy and speech therapy.

"It's a fun plan," Thompson said.

The door between Friendship Station and the middle school is kept locked, so there are no big kids wandering in. Eventually, they may be invited in to do things like reading aloud to the preschoolers.