Ivoone Chapa was set on a career of teaching highschoolers English and German until plans changed unexpectedly.
After realizing her true calling was teaching early childhood education, in 2017 she became a teacher of the School Readiness Program with Holy Cross Ministries at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Park City.
Now as coordinator of the program, she said the most rewarding part has been seeing kids learn and grow, especially those with a Hispanic background.
“I’m a believer, so I say that God always puts us in places where we need to learn something or where we need to heal something,” she said. “So I’m grateful that I have this opportunity to work with the little ones, because they help me a lot.”
The program welcomes kids who speak Spanish primarily, teaching them in their native language and the necessary English language skills to effectively learn in kindergarten.
Dulce Guadalupe Gomez enrolled her youngest child in the program after her older daughter faced language challenges in a separate English-speaking preschool program.
“And my daughter told me, ‘Mama, I don’t want my sister to feel the way I felt when others spoke and I couldn’t even understand what they were saying,’” she said.
She said she saw a difference in her youngest daughter when she was able to learn basic English while also socializing and making friends in a familiar environment.
She said another thing the program has taught her is to prioritize her children’s early mental development and to be more involved.
A longitudinal study on the program shows that there is a strong correlation between parent involvement and a student’s academic success.
The study, in collaboration with Holy Cross Ministries and the University of Utah’s Department of Family and Consumer Studies received funding in 2016 from The Whitney Foundation, which was focused on giving grants to underserved causes, such as early childhood care, before it shuttered in 2020.
The study followed the future progress of the program’s students, as well as those enrolled in separate preschool programs and children who didn’t get any preschool education from the years 2010-2013.
Final results showed that children who participated in the School Readiness Program scored significantly higher on kindergarten entrance screening exams.
It also found that children in the program were more likely to be designated as English Language Learners, meaning they were not as well-equipped to learn English as other students.
The study showed that overall, children who participated in any preschool program scored higher on 3rd grade Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) scores.
It also found that regardless of preschool attendance, high parental involvement was correlated to the long-term and short-term future of student success.
Chapa said Holy Cross Ministries makes extra efforts in taking a careful approach to involve parents in the learning process.
She said as kids learn extended subjects for about six weeks, they have celebrations to invite parents to be involved.
They take extra efforts to value them, Chapa said, by celebrating days like Men’s Day, Women’s Day, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day.
Additionally, she said they aim to get parents involved in community partner events with the Christian Center, Summit Community Gardens & EATS and more.
Ten spots remain for parents who live or work in Park City to register their children for the School Readiness Program, starting Sept. 2 and running through May.
Monthly tuition is $1,250, although it can be adjusted based on income, and scholarships are available.
Parents can learn more about the School Readiness Program here.
