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Working Families

Navigating a Pandemic & Advocating for Families at the Mount Kisco Child Care Center

April 2, 2021 by Ruth Goodman, LMSW

Ruth Goodman with son, Adam, and niece, Sarah, who are both long-time MKCCC volunteers.

Established as a non-profit in 1971, Mount Kisco Child Care Center has served more than 6,500 children over the past 50 years. The Center serves nearly 200 children each year and is committed to its successful model of service–balancing families who can pay the full fee for care, with families who require need-based scholarship support to attend. Each year MKCCC raises more than $600,000 for its scholarship program. Approximately half of our families receive some level of scholarship support. MKCCC provides year-round child care and early education programs for children beginning at three months until elementary school. The Center offers before- and after-school care to children in Kindergarten through 5th grade and a full-time, eight-week summer enrichment camp for elementary students through 5th grade.

The pandemic has posed many predictable hardships for our neediest families. We are lucky to live in a community with a tremendously generous spirit. From the very beginning of this long and unprecedented time of need, we have been able to utilize community resources and services to assure that our families have food, clothing, diapers, and all basic necessities. We are very thankful to have such devoted community partners.

As the pandemic wears on, a less easily solved problem has arisen. It is safe to say that remote learning has posed a challenge for all families. Supervising and assisting our children with remote learning has been a bemoaned task and burden; much validated by countless comedians and commercials. 

There is nothing funny about it, however, if you are a parent who must go to work, in person, every day, in order to provide for your family. These mothers and fathers cannot work from home and provide that imperfect, yet safe model of learning known as remote, or hybrid.  

From the very first day that schools initiated remote learning, Mount Kisco Child Care Center transformed our K-5th grade afterschool program into a full day remote learning program. Serving 30 students from seven different school districts, we set out to provide an option for those parents who had no choice regarding their return to work.

Advocating for Our Students

What we found is that some students had very little trouble adapting to online learning and were able to thrive academically. Others, however, have struggled. We knew that just as we became an online learning setting for families in need, we had to also become advocates for our students, just as a parent or in-home caregiver would. Our teachers and I began collaborating frequently with teachers at children’s schools. In sharing our observations about what a student was challenged by, we were able to formulate strategies to meet goals varying from increased engagement and focus regarding the online learning itself, to increased comprehension of the material, and greater success with assignments.

This intervention served to bridge the gap between “home” and school in many instances. We were thrilled to see happier kids, and parents who were less anxious about their need to work during this unprecedented time. There were, however, some students who needed more support than was possible through our collaborations with the school districts.

One such student is Janet. Janet is a friendly, bright and extroverted 10-year-old. She has been a part of our afterschool program for many years. Historically, Janet was an excellent student with no identified barriers to learning. Soon after the implementation of remote learning, her academic performance declined. Accustomed to academic success, this shift quickly affected her confidence, and thus her engagement with her online classes. A negative pattern became evident to our teachers. Accustomed to positive feedback from her teachers for both attitude and achievement, she felt embarrassed when she was unsure or wrong in class and ceased to participate only serving to cause her to fall further behind. Our MKCCC teachers came to me with their concerns. In meeting with Janet’s teachers, I learned that they too were alarmed by the changes that they were seeing in Janet. 

Janet’s parents were distressed about this development. They felt helpless. Sadly, in many ways they were. Janet’s mother is a store cashier and her father is a handyman. English is their second language. They couldn’t give her the academic assistance that she needed, nor were they able to afford a tutor.

Once again looking to resources in our community made a solution possible. I reached out to a local college student who was living at home during the pandemic, as her classes were online and her campus was closed. As an Education major, Emma jumped at the opportunity to become involved. With input from our teachers, and Janet herself, Emma familiarized herself with Janet’s areas of challenge and confusion. Janet was immediately excited about the prospect of having her own tutor. When she learned it was a college student, she was even more enthusiastic, revealing her hope to go to college one day. Emma has shared with me how disconnected and isolated she has felt since her own remote learning began. Having a connection with Janet and seeing the positive impact of her assistance has given her an unexpected but very welcome sense of purpose during this turbulent time.

COVID-19 has changed our world significantly. What hasn’t changed is our mission of providing high-quality child care and early education for all of our families. We pride ourselves on our commitment to maintaining a diverse student community , both socio-economically and culturally. The children enrolled at MKCCC continue to learn, grow, and thrive, through our innovative and award-winning curriculum, including the intergenerational Joining Elders With Early Learners (JEWEL) program and Feed Me Fresh (FMF) nutrition education program. Mount Kisco Child Care Center looks forward to our next 50 years, pledging to continue our service to our community with optimism and dedication to excellence in child care.

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: Advocating, Caregivers, child care, children, families, Mount Kisco Child Care Center, Pandemic, Working Families

‘Feed Me Fresh’ Virtual Fundraiser Raised $100,000 to Support Quality Child Care Access

November 12, 2020 by Inside Press

Proceeds from the 16th Annual Fundraiser for the Mount Kisco Child Care Center to Provide Financial Support for Working Families in Need

L-R: Keira Treanor, Event Chair and Vice President, Board of Directors MKCCC/ Joe DiMauro, Owner, Mt Kisco Seafood/Dawn Meyerski, Executive Director, MKCCC

Mt. Kisco, NY – (October 19, 2020) – Mount Kisco Child Care Center (MKCCC) held its 16th Annual Feed Me Fresh: A Virtual Evening on Saturday, September 26th. The fundraiser was broadcast virtually for the first time and raised $100,000 for the Center’s need-based scholarship program. Viewers enjoyed a tour of the Center, honoree recognition, guest video appearances from long-time FMF restaurant partners and live raffle drawings. Approximately half of the 195 children who attend the Center receive financial support to help provide access to quality child care for working families.

This year, MKCCC was thrilled to honor its teachers and staff. MKCCC is the only local child care center to have remained open throughout the pandemic, and by sharing best practices helped guide other organizations as they made the decision to re-open. In addition to serving families of essential workers, the Center welcomed enrolled families who needed a safe and nurturing place for their children to be during this unprecedented time. The teachers also engaged remote families so that all students felt connected. Lessons and activities were sent home through Google Classroom while Zoom classes were created for all children including show and tell, music, dance, circle time and story hour. MKCCC’s in-house kitchen staff prepared and packaged 160 meals each week for 8 weeks throughout the summer and distributed them to more than 40 families. MKCCC’s Social Worker continues to be in touch with every family to ensure all their needs are being met – physical, social and emotional. Despite constant and varied challenges, the Center ran a full-day, 8-week summer camp program which also included a swimming component at the town pool.

 

 

 

 

 

When public schools reopened in September, a new Remote Learning Program was developed. Dawn Meyerski, Executive Director, explains: “With school districts all having different scheduling, we needed to add a third program for our school-age children. The Early Morning Club and After-School Program will remain, with the addition of the Remote Learning Program. New teachers were hired, classrooms were reconfigured, and schedules were coordinated with the elementary schools, which ensured a smooth transition to the new school year.” MKCCC teachers continue to pivot to meet ever-changing COVID-19 protocols and requirements, while never compromising their high-quality care and attention for the children.

The Center was also pleased to honor Tommy Calandrucci and Gianni Piccolino of Stone Fire, Basilico and Sunset Cove restaurants. Gianni and Tommy are long-time supporters of Mount Kisco Child Care Center through their participation in Feed Me Fresh: An Edible Evening for the past 14 years. Since March, they have been providing meals to the community and directly to MKCCC families needing support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Mount Kisco Child Care Center:

Mount Kisco Child Care Center is a non-profit, NAEYC-accredited childcare facility serving families in Northern Westchester since 1971. MKCCC provides exceptional and affordable early care and education to a diverse group of children from three months to eleven years of age. Experienced and professional teachers, an innovative curriculum, unique programs, such as the JEWEL Intergenerational Program and Feed Me Fresh, its garden-to-table, sustainable nutrition program, and a state of the art facility contribute to create an incomparable early childhood education experience.

MKCCC is located at 95 Radio Circle, Mount Kisco, NY. For additional information, please visit www.mkccc.org or call (914) 241-2135. Follow MKCCC on www.facebook.com/MKCCC and www.twitter.com/MKCCC10549 for the latest news and updates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News and Photos Courtesy of the Mount Kisco Child Care Center

Filed Under: Happenings Tagged With: child care, families in need, Feed Me Fresh, financial support, Mount Kisco Child Care Center, need-based, Scholarship, support, Virtual Fundraiser, Working Families

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