Sunnyside Up! (Photo: SCS)
Sept. 1, 2017 By Tara Law
There are still spaces available in Sunnyside Community Services’ Pre-K Program that are for children born in 2013.
The program is free, since it is part of New York City’s Pre-K for All program.
SCS operates a preschool, called Sunnyside Up!, which is located at its 43-31 39th Street headquarters. Its Pre-K program puts a lot of focus on teaching children about different cultures, since the children come from a host of different nations.
The program follows the Reggio Emilia approach to learning, which encourages children to direct their own learning and emphasizes a hands-on learning style. The pre-school offers yoga, meditation and therapeutic music for students. It also offers art sessions for students.
Jonah Gensler, the associate executive director who administers the program, said that interested parents should call SCS to register for the program.
The school’s enrollment is capped at 36 students, where there are two classes with a maximum of 18 students.
“You get this boutique experience, but it’s also convenient,” Gensler said, who noted the school is by the 40th Street subway station.
Anna Jakimiuk-Chu, the preschool director, said the children are exposed to many different cultures and languages while at the school. The students speak an array of different languages.
To accommodate the diverse study body, teachers speak multiple languages, including Spanish, Bengali, Korean and Polish. The instructors teach the children basic phrases in these languages.
Jakimiuk-Chu said that the teachers take time to get to know each child, striving to make each student comfortable regardless of his or her native tongue. She said that she enjoys watching young children who speak different languages play and befriend other kids.
“With 3 and 4-year olds, they don’t have to speak the same language to communicate with each other,” Jakimiuk-Chu said.
Although the school prioritizes enrolling 4-year olds, remaining spaces will also be available to 3-year old children.
For those interested in registering, contact: prek@scsny.org or call 718-784-6173 ext 410
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7 Comments
Free 3K can’t come any sooner. Little friends $1,200. Magic beans $1,300. Holy mountain $1,000…. PER MONTH. My kid was born in 2014. it’ll be a huge relief!
3K at Sunnyside $550
El loco I signed you up.
its good to see little girls working in the kitchen, they teach em early at this school!
yeah, right. pretentiousness is a hereditary disease.
I was going to say its not too late for you to enroll el loco, but I forgot you go to little friends where the new traffic light is going up. That’s good, never too late to try to get an education. Now maybe you will get out of pre school eventually.
Make sure Al from SUNNYSIDE stays away from this place!