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The Rotary Club of Fort Collins proposes a collaborative project with the Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center. Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center is located at 424 Pine Street, Suite 100, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Rob Marschke has site visited and toured the facility with Anne Lance, the Executive Director. This is a district matching grant application to celebrate the Rotary Foundation Centennial. Co-authors of this application include Rob Marschke (Rotary Club of Fort Collins), Anne Lance (Executive Director, Teaching Tree), and Kathy Hayes (Grant Writer for Teaching Tree). This project involves two parts.
Part I
Handwashing Stations in Preschool Classrooms
An outside contractor has provided a $2,700 estimate that includes materials, removing the old stations, and installing the new stations. This work will be done over the course of 1-3 weekends in late August or September, when Teaching Tree is closed and children are not in the bulding. The handwashing stations are heavy and bulky. One Rotary Club volunteer will help the contractor with removing the old stations on a Friday evening. Another Rotary Club volunteer will help the contractor install new handwashing stations the following Saturday or Sunday.
Part II
Crayon Fence
Two to four Rotary Club volunteers and two Teaching Tree volunteers will paint a picket fence outside the Teaching Tree building in late August or September 2016. There are a total of 80 "crayon" or "pencil" pickets that need to be painted in a variety of colors, and there are 11 posts. Teaching Tree will provide instructions about on how the fence is to be painted (what colors, time of day, day of week, perhaps when the child care center is not open). Two coats of paint will be applied. Rotary will fund the paint and other supplies: estimated not cost more than $200.
Background
Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center, affiliated with United Way, is located at 424 Pine Street, Suite 100, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Teaching Tree is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. Rob Marschke has site visited and toured the facility with Anne Lance, the Executive Director.
Purpose of Organization
Teaching Tree's mission is to provide affordab le, quality early childhood and educational programs in a culturally and economically diverse environment ensuring a climate of individual growth, comfort and security. Every year, 200 little bodies jump, run, spin, dance, play, and otherwise engage in physical, social, and creative activities in Teaching Tree's indoor and outdoor facilities for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
How the Project Will Be Evaluated
Raising the funds needed and completing the project as planned are two factors that will determine success. Evaluators from Colorado Shines, Colorado's new quality rating improvement system for early childcare centers, has evaluated Teaching Tree in the areas of early learning environment (both indoors and out), supportive classrooms, adult-to-child ratios, family partnerships, discipline and program structure, and staff-child interactions that are warm and responsive to children's needs. We will assess children's progress toward developmental objectives using Teaching Strategies GOLD, an online observation, planning, and evaluation tool that shows a continuum of growth in each child and provides recommendations for activities that will promote each child's growth in specific developmental areas. We expect that 95% of children served will meet or exceed widely held expectations for development and school readiness.
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