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Bonnie Rotelli, Patty Donohue and Kelly Glaze?Capuano are co-presidents of the Early Childhood Center Parent Group. They submitted this open letter about the proposal to build a new $106,000 playground at the ECC. The plan, along with other small capital building projects, passed through the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance this week, and will go before the Representative Town Meeting on March 28.
As co?presidents of the Early Childhood Center Parent Group, we want to express our sincere appreciation in this open letter for your continued support of our school and to thank those representatives who took the time to tour the ECCs facilities in anticipation of the upcoming Capital Improvement Program vote. We are also grateful to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance for already approving the funding of upgrades to the schools playground.
We are truly excited pending the RTMs approval that a new education?oriented and ADA?compliant playground is scheduled to be built at the ECC to better help the school to fulfill its mission. Currently, preschoolers at the Center who use walkers and wheelchairs for mobility and children with other physical disabilities cannot utilize the playground. Importantly, and in addition to play, this upgraded playground will also enhance the schools ability to safely provide physical and occupational therapies both of which are important elements to a successful early intervention program for many preschoolers.
As part of your review process, we respectfully request you to consider the following key points about the ECC and its preschool students:
? School Goals and Background
The ECC is a vital component of our towns public educational system: It is a townwide, special?needs preschool specifically geared toward preparing its students for a successful transition from the toddler years to kindergarten and success in the Fairfield Public School system thereafter. At the school, qualified children receive necessary intervention therapies including: speech, language, occupational and/or physical. Preschoolers are also taught pre?reading, pre?writing, and pre?math skills, social skills training and behavior guidance.
A critical point here is that the ECC is also the only public school in the Town of Fairfield that serves families across all RTM Districts. There are also non?special needs children enrolled at the school, who live in our Town and who serve as important role models for the other children.
Children enrolled at the school have a variety of special needs, including: Autism Spectrum Disorder, medical Autism, Down syndrome, physical disabilities, e.g., wheelchairs, walkers etc.; speech delays, sensory processing disorders and various other developmental delays. Connecticut state law mandates that qualified special needs children transition directly from birth?to?three early intervention services into the ECC when they reach their third birthday in the Town of Fairfield.
? Importance of Early Intervention for Long-term Success
There is no magical cure for children diagnosed with many of the aforementioned disabilities, but there is much, much hope. According to a recent article in the Harvard Education Letter, early intervention beginning as soon as the developmental issue is diagnosed and continuing into elementary school can in many instances lead to remarkable progress, if not outright success: We used to hear theres nothing we can do, noted Ilene Schwartz, professor of education at the University of Washington in
Seattle and a nationally recognized expert on special education needs and early intervention programs. Today, we hear things like wheres this kid going to college? Because we now know that huge changes can be made [through early intervention].
? Positive Impact and the Towns Return on Investment
Early intervention in toddlers with special needs has been clinically shown to make a statistically significant impact on the educational and social performance levels of children in elementary school (and beyond), as well as to potentially reduce the level of support services these same children may need later on in elementary school.
Appropriate play and physical activity is an important element of the overall educational system for preschoolers at the ECC. By making this playground accessible to all children (including those in walkers and wheelchairs) and by expanding its use to include a variety of physical and occupational therapies, the school will be maximizing its impact. In the long run, this not only translates into better adjusted children, but cost savings for Fairfield taxpayers, as many of these children will require less special services in elementary school if we can make the most impact during this crucial development period in their lives namely the preschool years.
In closing, thank you again for your consideration of this very important project for our town. We encourage you to tour the Early Childhood Center to see where some of the most important work in Fairfield Public Schools is taking place today and to meet the incredible staff and remarkable students firsthand.
We sincerely hope that you will work in a bipartisan fashion with all of your colleagues on the RTM to provide the necessary funding to give all ECC preschoolers safe and equal access to a place where they can play and learn.
Most sincerely,
Bonnie Rotelli, Patty Donohue and Kelly Glaze-Capuano
Co?Presidents, ECC Parent Group
March 17, 2011
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