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Administrator’s Corner by Lisa Ferns

As the new coordinator of Early Learning and director of Tiger Cub Child Care Center, my passion is to provide a high-quality and inclusive experience for all children as we build partnerships with families and the community. This year, preschoolers have experienced more mathematical and phonemic awareness in our curriculum.

Thanks to our Early Childhood Special Education Department, we have a licensed physical education teacher helping us create structured gym activities. Weekly, our preschoolers participate in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) activities and attend our Oasis Library for teacher-led instruction. We have even invited Jim Peterson, a meteorologist from KAAL news, to our Outdoor Adventures class to conduct a lesson on the weather as they learn about the water cycle. In addition, our Tiger Cub Child Center is pursuing Parent Aware status so families can access Pathway scholarships to assist with daycare expenses.

The Early Childhood Family Education Department is booming, as we are providing new classes for our birth to 5-year-olds. We have partnered with public health nurses and a lactation specialist to create a Nurturing Newborn class, supporting feeding, postpartum depression, attachment, car seat safety, sleep schedules, returning to work and much more while on maternity or paternity leave. We offer late afternoon or night classes such as our Grandparents are Grand and Dancing Daisies as families learn new activities to increase social and motor skills with our littles. Don’t forget to check out our special events, parent and Thursday night classes in our Albert Lea Early Learning booklet! We would love for you to become our early learning family!

Preschool registration is now open! We have preschool registration night from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Brookside Education Center in Room 113. We offer preschool for 3-to-5-year-olds with various options of days and times. Preschoolers do not need to be potty trained to attend school! We have more options for busing availability this coming year thanks to Smart Bus and Albert Lea Bus Co.! All applications are in paper format for the 2023-24 school year. Additional programming is coming, so check out our Albert Lea Community Education website to learn more!

Lisa Ferns is the coordinator of Early Learning and director of Tiger Cub Child Care Center with Albert Lea Area Schools.