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03/23/2022 08:30 AMFor many reasons, Kim Cellini couldn’t be more excited about the return of Branford’s celebration of the Week of the Young Child, culminating with a day of fun activities with a focus on early education experiences on the Town Green on Saturday, April 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
As interim director of Branford Public Schools (BPS) Early Childhood Programs, Kim has helped to bring back this big event for the pre-school set. Branford’s 2022 Week of the Young Child arrives through the combined efforts of BPS Family Resource Center (FRC), Branford Early Learning Center, and the School Readiness Council and funding from the Branford Community Foundation.
The excitement starts in advance with the launch of this year’s “One Book, One Town” initiative, which will provide 700 free copies of the read-along book Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds to Branford pre-school and pre-K children. The books will be distributed to teachers to provide to the children in their programs. When the books go home with the kids, they’ll carry an invitation to their families to attend The Week of the Young Child celebration on April 9.
“This book is all about celebrating how special, unique, and brave and courageous you are,” says Kim.
The Be You! book experience also ties into the ArtWalk planned as part of the April 9 event on the Branford Green.
“All of the children are going to be encouraged to create a portrait of themselves which expresses the uniqueness they bring, and that art will be displayed on the Green. So their families can walk through and find their artwork.”
Many more Week of the Young Child free activities and entertainment interludes are planned for April 9—think dance party, story-time, scavenger hunt, face painting, photo booth, music, make your own crafts, and a Character Pancake Breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m. Throughout the event, more than 20 shoreline early education centers will be set up on the green to share programming information, as well.
“That will be a sort of one-stop-shopping experience for parents looking for pre-K and childcare for their children,” says Kim.
Kim joined BPS in 2012 as a pre-K teacher for the launch of John B. Sliney Elementary School’s pre-K program, where she taught for eight years. During the 2020-’21 school year, when BPS postponed its pre-K programs due to the pandemic, Kim joined the district’s kindergarten program. Then, with the start of the 2021-’22 academic year, Kim transitioned into the position of interim director of Early Childhood Programs housed at the Indian Neck School. BPS has two pre-K programs running within the school building, including the FRC, a school readiness-based program that Kim supervises and leads.
Over the past two years, many children and families poised to enter traditional early childhood learning programs were greatly impacted by the pandemic. Now, more than ever, the need for that early childhood developmental support is a front and center concern for many families.
“There have a been a lot of inquiries about pre-K and full-time care,” says Kim of the requests coming in to FRC. “Families are really looking at an opportunity to get back into the workforce and revert to some sort of normalcy as well as their awareness of the social and emotional needs of their young children. They need to have that socialization, which really puts them in a position where they are successful going into kindergarten. The pandemic has heightened that social emotional piece and its value in day-to-day life.”
Kim says she can’t drive home enough the importance of pre-K in helping to foster social and emotional development in young children starting their school years.
“All ages and stages of life have been impacted by the pandemic in some way, but for young children to able to go into school and enter kindergarten, their social and emotional wellbeing is truly where pre-K fosters that development,” she says.
As someone who has been involved with early childhood development for 15 years, Kim’s seen the boost preschool can provide.
“The growth that you see from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is not measured in academic, it’s not measured in reading, writing, or numbers—it’s measured in their adjustability,” says Kim. “It’s measured in their emotional understanding of relationships with peers, with adults, and in their ability to adapt to new materials and new experiences that are afforded in schools.”
The annual Week of the Young Child is a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited initiative. For many years, Branford’s annual celebration and “One Book, One Town” event was organized by the Branford Early Childhood Collaborative with partner organizations, Kim notes.
“There’s been a history in Branford, a tradition of ‘One Book, One Town’ that’s been a part of our community for the past 10 or so years,” says Kim. “I remember as a pre-K teacher getting those books, and how it really supported literacy at home, and doing artwork around those experiences, and the ArtWalk in the center of town.”
Together with Diane Pappacoda, director of the Branford Early Learning Center, Kim worked to re-introduce the programming to the community in 2022. Both are also members of the School Readiness Council, which is where Kim and Diane began talking earlier this year about bringing the Week of the Young Child back to Branford, post-pandemic.
“Through those conversations at the School Readiness Council level, it grew into a bigger opportunity for us to celebrate young children, as well as families, and all of the things they have endured these past couple of years,” says Kim. “We were really looking forward to an opportunity for us to be together in a safe, welcoming environment. That’s kind of how everything came to fruition.”
Kim and Diane formed a committee that brought in members not only from the council, but those from BPS, the James Blackstone Memorial Library, and non-profit Community Dining Room. Branford Community Foundation came on board to assist with funding.
“It’s really a community collaborative that’s working towards this, in terms of all the partnerships, as well as just continuing the tradition and bringing it back better than ever. So it’s been a really great, collaborative experience regarding our youngest learners,” says Kim. “To be able to bring it back, bigger and better, and with more opportunities for young families and their kids to learn about and to experience, is really exciting.”
Kim urges all community families with young children to come out to experience The Week of the Young Child event on April 9. Parents of very young children (toddlers down to infants) who may only just be starting to consider options for early childhood learning opportunities, are also encouraged to attend, says Kim.
“They might be thinking about giving their child the opportunity, in a couple of years or more, to be with other kids socially and emotionally and introduce them to school. This provides them an opportunity to get acquainted with the community, from a parenting lens.”
In case of inclement weather on April 9, Branford’s Week of the Young Child event will move to the Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street.