Mayor kicks off 2023-2024 Seattle Preschool Program, announces program expansion

¡Adentro!

So, ustedes dirán.

Welcome everyone to La Escolita Bilingual School.

Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are blessed to live, love, and learn on the ancestral land of the Coast Salish people.

We thank them for allowing us this safe space of existence.

We honor them in our daily practices of social justice and the preservation of culture, on this colonized land.

I am Marisol Maso-Lincoln.

I am the CEO and Education Director of La Escolita Bilingual School.

My real claim to fame, however, is that I am the first client of La Escolita.

My parents started the school some 40 plus years ago as a family child care center in the basement of our home.

And at that time, there was not a lot of options for bilingual education There was not a lot of options for culturally relevant education, and they had the mission to help me and my siblings try and maintain our culture and our language.

And since then, We have expanded as one of the original dual language programs in the city of Seattle.

There was a time in Seattle and all throughout Washington and much of the United States where teachers were not really encouraged to speak their home language as instructors and it wasn't really celebrated.

There's been a major shift I think in the history of early childhood education and I'm proud to say that my mom Carmen Maslow and my godmother Sharon Cronin and Judith Vega and all of the other Latino leaders in this city made a shift with the Latino Child Care Task Force to kind of bring that to the forefront along with the other ethnic centered child care task force to emphasize the importance of bilingual education.

So it is a mission that is near and dear to our heart.

It is something that we want to continue in our partnership with the Seattle Preschool Program.

Along with also providing our teachers with professional development opportunities, providing more access to families that may not be able to afford quality child care services.

Because of things like gentrification and the change of demographics in different Seattle, more diverse neighborhoods, we sometimes find ourselves sacrificing the diversity that we need to really accomplish a cross-cultural exchange between our allies and children of color.

So we are you know feeling really fortunate with this opportunity to be able to open the doors to more diversity at our school.

And of course allowing our teachers the chance to continue to study and build upon that generational wealth because we know that comes with access and education.

So with that, I just want to again thank the city for the opportunity and I'm gonna pass it off to the mayor Bruce Harrell Thank you Thank You Marisol for that introduction I

Boy, this is where the magic happens.

I have to tell you, I want to thank your students for welcoming us with that wonderful song.

I think I was throwing the rhythm off a little bit.

I was trying to learn.

And it's sort of funny when you're around that kind of beauty.

I don't know, sometimes I wonder what kind of child I was when I was four or five.

I would like to think I was that very well-behaved child that did everything the teacher asked us to do.

The feedback I've gotten from my parents wasn't quite the case.

And I say that to say this, that the investments you're making in these children are just phenomenal, that we're making together.

We're very excited and proud to be here at La Esquilita to announce the opening of our preschool program applications for the upcoming year, 2023-2024 school year, with the expansion of the program to include seven new classrooms across the city.

We know what this means.

This is the upstream work that, quite frankly, as leaders of the city, we have the honor and privilege to do.

This is medicine for the soul, as I like to think of it.

This is when we go upstream and we look at a lot of the issues we're facing today in the city, and we're saying, where can we go upstream to do the real work, to do preventative work?

Now these, three of these new classrooms will be here at La Escoleta, a new SPP partner will provide dual language instruction, which is a crucial part in providing inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments as we look to close the achievement gap.

We know that the data is very clear that dual language learning in preschool is tremendously beneficial to children and leads to Improved academic outcomes.

That's why this is so important.

Seattle Preschool Program and I'm really proud to again share the podium with council member Tammy Morales and Duane Chappell.

Seattle Preschool Program now has 28 dual language classrooms which support instruction in eight different languages.

We.

Thank you.

Michelle.

Yeah.

Want to lead us in some clapping there because it's certainly clap worthy.

with 89 sites citywide.

89, the Seattle Preschool Program will provide approximately 2,200 children this year, and we'll be on track to educate, to serve around 2,500 by 2026. We're adding on, we're heading in the right direction.

Again, this can't be done without our partners.

When we make investments in our children, We're quite frankly making investments in our collective whole, in our city.

Our commitment through programs like the Seattle Preschool Program is that every child from every neighborhood can access education and opportunities to build the future that they deserve.

that they deserve.

That's the sort of resounding part, that they deserve what we're trying to do.

They are worthy.

They are our investments.

They are our gems.

This important work, I must recognize the dedication and passion of our city's educators, and your personal story of how you're passing it forward is what it's all about.

Duane, Chappelle, me.

Are you speaking today?

I'm not.

Well, I'm going to speak for you then.

He has students and his own children all around this community that's been sort of intermingled with this institution and you and others.

And it's just amazing where I go to see, I still call you Principal Chappelle sometimes, Director of our department Chappelle, how your leadership and your own skin in the game and your own family are intertwined to these investments.

And so I want to thank you for that as well.

So again, I want to thank the beautiful children for giving me medicine.

Sometimes it just feels good to be around that kind of joy.

I remind people every day that when we see some of the issues we see out here on the streets with people that have sort of lost their way, that at one point in their life, perhaps they were like these children.

And so every single children has a calling, a special purpose.

And I think that's what you're helping them do, find their very special purpose.

And learning about other cultures, learning about other art, learning about other customs.

That's what our human experience is about.

And so I am very proud to stand as your mayor and your supporter, keep the magic going.

And with that, I'm going to introduce our chair of the education.

I want to say it right, Council Member Nielsen.

What's the full committee name?

Neighborhoods, education, rights, and arts.

That committee, the education part, I present to you Chair, Council Member Tammy Morales.

Well, good morning everybody.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you Mayor Harrell for the introduction.

Thank you so much Marisol for inviting us all here.

And I want to thank the kids for sharing their song with us this morning.

It was really fun.

I'm Tammy Morales.

I'm the city council member who represents District 2, which now includes Yesler Terrace, the CID, all the way down the Rainier Valley.

And I'm really excited to be here today for several reasons, not the least of which is that my own child went here when she was in preschool.

And she's in middle school now, but she...

made some really good friends here that she still is in middle school, is still in class with, and they still talk about the classrooms here and talk about how much fun they had.

So thank you for creating that kind of environment where students can really start to build those long-term bonds with one another.

I'm also excited to be here because, as the mayor said, our district is experiencing really exponential growth in the Seattle Preschool Program.

In the 2015-2016 school year, we only had six sites here in District 2. We are now launching an expansion of the program for the 23-24 year to 35 preschool sites throughout the South End, throughout District 2. So it's really important that we, you know, have this kind of opportunity to provide more capacity for our families in the South End to make sure that they are able to access the kind of high-quality education that their children deserve.

The importance of this investment, the importance of this expansion really can't be overstated.

We know that access to high quality preschool programs has increased kindergarten readiness in the city.

In 2018, we had 53% of our preschoolers who were ready for kindergarten.

It is now 63% as of 2021. That means that these students have a much greater likelihood of achieving the reading skills that they need by third grade.

It also really sets them up for success later in life.

So the work that's happening in these classrooms is really important, and it's important for us to make sure that they get the resources and the support that they need.

SPP sites reflect the diversity of the city.

They're all-inclusive for families, offering flexible programs, for example, for children who have disabilities.

And as has already been said, we have 22 classrooms that are dual-language classrooms.

And that means that they're serving families who communicate with American Sign Language, who communicate in Amharic, Cantonese, French, Mandarin, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

That's a lot of languages.

That's a lot of families who are being served with a dual language program that really supports their young people.

We've heard from the mayor and from Marisol about the importance of dual language programming.

And I really want to emphasize this.

Knowing more than one language has so many benefits for our students, including stronger brain development, higher academic achievement, increased job opportunities down the road, and positive and respectful attitudes toward different languages and different cultures.

Studies show that bilingual children have greater mental flexibility and greater cognitive skills, not only in language but also in math and other subjects.

Multilingual students who learn English and continue to develop their home language do better in school than those who learn in English-only classrooms.

And they have higher academic achievement in dual language than in English-only classrooms.

Children who are learning more than one language have a stronger sense of identity, a stronger value of their own and other people's culture, and they have a greater understanding of global and social issues as well as valuing different perspectives.

And we all know in today's society that that's really important.

Here at La Escuelita, staff are supported by another program of deals that provides instructional coaching and additional training for the program's continuous quality improvement.

We know that there's a lot of work to do to ensure that our early learning educators get the pay and the coaching and the respect that they deserve for educating our littlest Seattleites and providing them with a nurturing, really stimulating classroom environment all day long.

So I wanna thank you, the educators and the staff here at La Escuelita, and I wanna thank the families of Seattle who are making the Seattle Preschool Program a success.

Thank you all for being here and for sharing in the song this morning.

I think it is my duty to introduce a parent, Rosa Aguilar, who is gonna say a few words as well.

Thanks everyone.

Hola, buenos dias a todos.

Mi nombre es Rosa Aguilar.

Soy una mujer mixteca indígena, madre de la escuelita.

My name is Rosa Aguilar.

I am a mixteca and indigenous woman, and a mother here at La Escuelita.

I would like to thank Marisol for welcoming me with open arms and my young child 12 years ago.

And how important it is to be a part of this program.

Because we are a bilingual school.

And giving importance to the most

crucial step in children's development.

Because at that age they are young and their brain is like a sponge absorbing everything around them.

And it is a place that gave me the opportunity to help my child develop his Spanish.

And in doing so, being in a bilingual program, it will open the doors of the world for him and allow him to make connections in the community.

Bilingual people have more opportunities to connect and to interact with people of different cultures and different languages.

And I'm asking you, Mayor, today to continue to give us support in developing all of these other languages aside from English.

Because the children are our future and being bilingual, being trilingual, being multilingual, they have more opportunities in the future.

This environment or this center was designed in a beautiful way.

Everything is labeled in English and Spanish.

Everything at the level of the children.

And the teachers work really hard every day to make sure that the children are prepared for when they go to kindergarten.

Y yo quiero reconocer el trabajo de todos los maestros que hacen diariamente aquí.

And I want to recognize the work of all of the teachers here that work on a daily basis.

Por preparar a nuestros niños académicamente y fomentar ese aprendizaje en la edad temprana para ellos que es muy importante.

For preparing our children academically and also for laying that strong foundation in early childhood that is so important for them.

And I want to ask for more resources for our teachers so that they can continue to grow professionally and provide quality education to our children.

And that way we can help our children so they can triumph in the future and connect with the world.

I think we'll open it up for a few questions.

I have to say to Rosa, how do you say no to that?

Such a warm smile and an ask.

You get me every time.

Thank you, Rosa.

Your words were very impactful.

Thank you very much.

We'll ask some questions.

I'm going to ask Jamie, my director of communications, to help get through the questions.

Sure thing.

Mark.

Yeah, I said I had a question for Director Chappelle.

Yes.

My favorite question is not to me.

So I see here, and we've been talking about this for the last four or five years, sir.

You know what I'm saying?

Your work over there in the deal and everything else.

I see here in this press release, it says that black African American children and English learners who participated in SPP in 2021-22 outperformed their non-peers in this testing that was given by the state.

One, why do you think they outperformed?

And two, also, you know, you used to be there at Principal Rainier Beach, here familiar with what's going on in the South and here in Seattle.

How important is this investment?

early childhood to get the results early.

So you know I'm saying that our children grow holistically when they're reaching teenage years they're not falling into these pitfalls out here in the streets.

Yeah, that's a great question.

Thank you, Mr. Salisbury.

It's good to see you today.

I'll say that I'm going to move this up a little like I'm scrunching over.

I'll say to answer the first question, the reason why they outperform their peers when they step into kindergarten is what we heard pretty much today from the high quality environments that they're coming into, such as this one right here.

the access just to early learning, the amazing teachers that are trained and equipped with the necessary pedagogy that will make sure that they're going to be ready when they step into kindergarten.

But what we're seeing today, everything from what's happening in the classroom to the services, like the coaching, to the engagement of the families like Rosa, all play a role in making sure that students are going to be kindergarten ready when they step into Seattle Public Schools.

And that's our main goal.

We want them to be kindergarten ready.

The answer to your second question, you asked about the role, how important that role is to make sure that they're going to be successful.

It's very important.

As you know, as the mayor mentioned, being a principal prior to this, there's nothing like knowing that our young scholars have The foundation to step into elementary school so that they can hit those milestones on time, whether it's third grade reading at a certain in third grade grade level, because all of that leads to upward trajectory for them being successful when they graduate from high school.

And my last piece that I'll say is that there's multiple research that talks about the importance of the foundation and access to early learning and how it leads to on-time graduation, better life outcomes such as career, health, and other components.

So I hope that answers your question.

I appreciate you answering that too, asking that.

I'm not sure who's the best person for this, but many states across the country are moving towards universal access to preschool education.

Washington is not one of those, and yet we have Seattle who is finding the success, trying year after year to increase access to preschool education.

Are there barriers with funding for Seattle?

And then my second question is, can other cities in our area follow Seattle's model?

I'll take a shot at that question and anyone else can help me join in.

So, quite frankly, we've seen in many areas of political thought, activities start at the local level.

And many years ago, under Council Member Tim Burgess at the time, who first started talking about the data in preschool development and early child care and brain development, quite honestly, for me personally, it was a new awakening.

And so we looked at other cities throughout the country that were leading in this space.

Funding is always a challenge.

You know, this is from levy dollars, so this is the city collectively saying we believe in brain development at an early age.

And when you couple that with the kind of language immersion and the dual language programs that you're seeing, that's again where I use the term, that's where the magic happens.

They're studying more than language.

They're studying interpersonal skills, intercultural development, a holistic human being, which is so critically important to succeed in a as a world citizen.

So I think that the state, perhaps they're a little behind.

Maybe other cities don't have the funding or they haven't looked at the data.

And again, I'm very proud.

I'm not going to take credit for it.

I'll give credit for those leaders and current leaders that are continuing this work.

So Seattle will lead the way.

We're the largest city in this state.

That's what we should do.

This works.

The data is clear.

Early brain development.

can help a child at the third grade level read at the third grade level at least, if not even more advanced.

And I must admit, as a little kid in the Seattle Public Schools, we didn't understand that back then.

I was very blessed to have some great teachers at T.T.

Minor, if anyone remembers that school.

But this is way in front of what happened when I was a child.

So Seattle will continue to lead the way and hopefully other states will, other cities in the state will follow and other states in this country will follow as well.

Did anyone want to add anything to that?

Okay.

So I don't see any other questions.

I'm going to shut it down.

I am going to crack one joke.

Before we leave, and this is where my Director of Communications gets very nervous, but I'm simply, I'm not going to crack a joke, I'm just going to say that's a very blue suit you have on, and I love it.

And I'm going to get one just like that, Chris Daniels.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for being here.

We're building one Seattle together.

Thank you.