The Lynn Barta Academy

On January 7, 2010, A Mother’s Wish Foundation inaugurated the Lynn Barta Academy, a school for three and four year old children living in our five communities.

The Lynn Barta Academy provides a safe, nurturing environment and developmentally appropriate activities and assessments to help children reach their full potential.  By fostering appropriate interactions and respect for staff and classmates, children will develop skills to make friends, solve conflicts, and function in a group.  Goals for children are not limited to the acquisition of knowledge, understanding, and skills, but also address the development of positive attitudes and dispositions.

We currently have seventeen four year old children enrolled who attend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30am until 11:30am. We have fourteen three year old children who attend on Thursdays for the same time period. This allows the three year olds to become accustomed to being away from their mothers and prepares them for their four year old schedule. We have instituted a class on Fridays of the remaining thirteen children who were on the waiting list to evaluate them and prepare to have a single four year old class three days per week and one three year old class two days per week. The children are picked up by a contracted vehicle and delivered to school and returned to their stop after school.

The curriculum was created by Nancy Johnson, a retired preschool teacher from Minnesota, and Rebekah Johnson, our current teacher. Rebekah started our preschool classes in the fall of 2009, meeting with three and four year olds children once per week at both Tinajita and Los Pajones.

All of the commands regarding behavior are in Spanish, but all learning classes are in English. The day starts with a nutritious meal to provide energy for learning and playing. An average day includes Circle Time, where the children learn the alphabet and colors as a group, outdoor activities and individual station time where the children play in smaller groups under teacher or assistant supervision.

Adjacent to the school classrooms is a playground built especially for our young students. The area includes a gazebo that is awaiting a roof, teeter totters, a playhouse, a race track with bicycles and plenty of grass to enjoy the many toys available to them. The grounds are unique to this area; it is a child’s dream come true.

We expect to run three semesters during the year; January-April, May-August, September-December. Our goal is two-fold. To provide a love of learning that will carry our children through secondary school. Currently, the average grade level is almost sixth grade. It has been shown that attendance in preschool increases the possibility of the child completing secondary school by as much as thirty-nine percent. Secondly, our goal is to provide the children a model of discipline and problem resolution without violence.