FREE PRE KINDERGARTEN OFFERED BY THE STATE


The Voluntary Pre Kindergarten (VPK) legislation was signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush on January 2, 2005.  This law created a program to prepare every Florida four year old for kindergarten and build a strong foundation for their continued educational success. The VPK program will provide each child the opportunity to perform better in school and throughout life. Quality programs include high literacy standards, accountability, appropriate curricula, substantial instruction periods, manageable class sizes and qualified instructors. Children will be given 540 instructional hours. Class size will not exceed 18, and will be developmentally appropriate, focusing on early literacy skills.
There are no financial restrictions to this program, and no fees charged to the families.

The Boca Raton Jewish Learning Center is proud to be hosting the final round up in Boca Raton for the VPK program.  This round up will be held on Tuesday August 2nd, 2005 from 6-8 pm.  The VPK program is open to ALL children who will be 4 years of age by September 1, 2005.  Parents enrolling their children will be given a list of participating schools in the area.
Parents who are interested in signing up their child (ren) for this program will need to bring a copy of their child's birth certificate and proof of residency to this round up.

For more information contact:
The VPK website at www.elcpalmbeach.org or call toll free 1-866-357-3239 or
Boca Raton Jewish Learning Center at www.bestofbocapreschool.com or 561-883-5439

The Boca Raton Jewish Learning Center is expanding to meet the needs of the community.  At present time we are in the process of changing our capacity with the state to be able to accommodate up to 100 children. We are now accepting applications for the Voluntary Pre-K program offered by the state. This program will be offered in three different ways. Full time classes will be given priority. There are 36 spaces for this program. Two classes of 18 children will be accepted; 1) a morning VPK class, and 2) an afternoon class. Classes will begin at 9 am and run through 3 pm. The state will pay for three hours of this program. Children within this program will be able to have further extended hours if needed. The only cost to the parents will be the hours exceeding the three hour state program. 3) We will be offering a VPK class from 1pm – 4pm. This class will consist of 18 children and extended hours will be available at an additional cost. Anyone wanting more information on the program can call the school office at 561-883-5439 or check out the Palm Beach County Early Learning Coalition's website at www.elcpalmbeach.org and the Florida Department of Education Office of Early Learning's website at http://www.firn.edu/doe/earlylearning.

We are to open a new media room and library for our students in August. With the help of friends and the community Preschool is reaching one of their biggest milestones. The school opened September 2001 with 11 students, some very dedicated teachers and parents, and a lot of high hopes. We have been dubbed "The Little School House That Could", and truer words were never spoken.  The children have blossomed and the school has continued to grow, more than quadrupling in size. We started with two rented rooms, and relied on a wing and a prayer to keep us going from month to month. Now we are taking on new projects and expanding to meet the needs of the community

We are now housed in a six room building with a 4000 square foot playground and a pool on premises, our preschool has all the amenities. We have just acquired an additional two rooms to help in their expansion.  One of the new rooms will be a library and media room. With the help of parents and community, eight brand new Dell computers will be the highlight of the Media Room. The library consists of more than 5000 books and videos that the children will be able to borrow, just like the County Library .

Many people have worked very hard to make this school what it is today. Without the community involvement we would never have been able to realize this dream. Many Thanks to; Keith Jenkins, and Jack Meslin of Korth Cabinets and Millwork for the Computer tables, Keith Johnson for our carpet installation, Thomas Produce, Lieber Podiatry, and the Gross Family.