Scottish Rite-UA Wings On Words Preschool at the Child Language Center (WOW/CLC) is a unique program that includes a research centre, kindergarten and clinician’s office to improve language acquisition for children with language delays and disabilities. It’s intended to help. The program began over 30 years ago at Scottish Rite Cathedral and has grown from a summer camp to a kindergarten. In 2000, with the help of a continuing collaborator, the Scottish Light Charitable Foundation, the former Clack Uchkin building was transformed into his one of the highest rated kindergartens in the state.

According to Weimer Jensen, many children come to the program with little or no language, and by the time children are two and a half years old, they should be able to speak quite a few languages. It is said that

“Parents would come in and say, ‘Oh my God, they told me they loved them and it was obvious,'” said Weimer Jensen. “It’s important to people and it’s important to us.”

Early childhood education is important. Most of a child’s brain development occurs from birth to her 5th birthday. According to the National Education Association, children enrolled in early childhood education programs are less likely to repeat grades, are more academically prepared for later grades, graduate high school and become high earners in the workforce. more likely.

A report by the Institute for Educational Sciences found that the dropout rate has been steadily declining since 1970. However, in 2016, it was found that students in the lowest income quartile had the highest dropout rate, about 10%, and students in the highest income quartile had the highest dropout rate, about 3%. In 2021, Pima County’s graduation rate is 70.7%, the lowest in the state. Studies show that early childhood education can help boost these numbers.

Developmental language disorders are prevalent, said Weimer-Jensen. It is estimated that 1 in 15 children have a developmental language disorder, most of which go undiagnosed.

Although the school accepts children without speech disorders, about 60% of WOW students require speech therapy sessions. These services are delivered in individual and group sessions by speech pathologists and University of Arizona graduate students through a preschool partnership with the University of Arizona School of Speech and Hearing Sciences. In the fall, the program will also be held as a lab school for early childhood educators at Pima Community College.

In addition, trained teachers and assistant speech pathologists implement lesson plans that focus on spoken language throughout the school day.

WOW/CLC parent Sabrina Chapman noticed her son wasn’t speaking and enrolled him in weekly speech therapy sessions, but said he wasn’t progressing as expected. While she was looking for other options, Ms. Chapman found her WOW/CLC. He was two-and-a-half years old at the time and could not speak at all, but after five months at the school, Chapman said he started saying and putting words together. .

“I feel like he’s going to go to kindergarten and teach the teachers,” Chapman said, adding, “I think he’s a lot more prepared than I expected.” said.

Chapman is close to a 30 minute drive to WOW/CLC. 202 E. Speedway Blvd., says it’s worth it for her son, but in part because of the program’s curriculum and community of teachers.

Candy Kennelly has been with WOW/CLC for 22 years. In an industry with high turnover, she said she continues to stay at WOW because she has her children at heart.

Mr. Kennelly said he has directly observed changes in students’ language abilities as a result of WOW/CLC’s educational strategy. Language is embedded in every subject, including math and science, she said. Teachers also work on interactive reading, asking questions and having conversations with children to help them think and speak analytically while reading.

“You said, ‘Tell me about your picture. ‘ So at the beginning of the year, some kids will give you a word because the expressiveness of words is so low.” said Kennelly. “And at the end of the year, there were more paragraphs.”

Kennelly said he has maintained connections with many students and their families over the years, and even goes hiking with former students once a month. One such student is Reed Reinthal, the son of former WOW/CLC board chairman Peter Reinthal.

Reintal’s son was diagnosed with severe speech delay when he was a toddler. Frustrated with the services provided within the school system, Mr. Reintal took his son to a specialist at his UCLA and was told that his son would never speak. Rheintal said his son grew up when they discovered WOW/CLC. He is now 27 years old and has graduated from college.

“Because of the attention and all the efforts here, we are not only seeing growth much faster, but we are also given the tools to succeed,” said Leinthal. If you’re happy, successful, and without words, it’s hard to do either. ”

Early childhood education is basic, but it is not available to everyone. In Arizona, eligibility for public school starts at age 5, and while Tucson offers several free or low-cost programs, the average private kindergarten costs up to $10,800 a year. This puts the burden of finding and paying for schools on parents, putting many low-income children at a disadvantage.

Reintal said WOW/CLC wants to promote equity, diversity and inclusiveness, and that providing funding and support is an important part of the programme. Director Weimer Jensen said 70% of Wings-on-Wards students receive some form of scholarship, 30% of whom receive full scholarships. She and her board collect scholarships and give out grants. The program is supported through the State, Pima County, Scottish Rite, First Things First 5-Star Quality First Arizona Ranking, and is also supported by the community to provide scholarships.

“We would like to see more community participation,” said Reintal. “In many cases, children from more difficult home environments do not know about schools and the resources available to them.”

Schools must be tightly controlled to maintain a five-star status rating. Julia Chavez Sullivan found the program through Quality First Arizona. Sullivan said her son attends her WOW/CLC and although he has no language delays, he likes its high standards and research-based curriculum. But some of the stricter policies, such as strict opening times that children can’t leave after 8:40 a.m., aren’t always parent-friendly, she said. Sullivan said she was happy at school and understood the importance of structure, but the rigor of the program may not be for all families.

Weimer Jensen said WOW/CLC is a small program that can meet small needs. Weimer-Jensen said 40% of the program’s revenue comes from individual donors and grants, but said he hopes to expand the program but is currently at capacity. In the meantime, these are part of a grant to train other preschool programs and teachers in language promotion techniques, allowing all programs to carry out their activities.

“Kids will succeed if you deliberately teach them spoken language and language, as well as early literacy skills,” says Weimer Jesen.

Visit the Child Language Center to learn more about Wings On Words. clctucson.org.