On A Positive Note: Innovative pre-K program makes a difference
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Parents, you know how unique each child is. Teachers, you see it too -- individual personalities with their own passion and purpose. But for families experiencing trauma, or emotional, social, or behavorial problems, life in a typical classroom can be a challenge.
An innovative new pre-K program in Bridgeville is making a difference.
Jenna Bosi wants every child who walks through her doors to be whoever they want to be. She founded the nonprofit 412 Foster Project two and a half years ago to help families in the foster system, but she knew so many other children were also at risk. So she just created an early intervention pre-K created for kids with past trauma or other needs that prevent them from attending traditional school.
"I would get these evaluations from schools that there were these outrageously huge incidents that were happening, they were hitting and biting and doing all these things, and they got here and just kind of -- having the flexibility here, we use all the sensory spaces and equipment," Bosi explained.
And the staff started seeing progress almost immediately.
"These kids who never played with other kids, they isolated themselves, they have found their niche here with their group of friends here and they doing extremely well," Bosi said.
"I think I cry whenever I think about this place. For us, it's just been really magical. We didn't have a place for him," said parent Jax Bialostozky.
That family, like so many others, has gone from frustration and despair to hope and healing
"He gets to be himself, he gets to do the things that he's excited about but also just really just learn the skills that he needs to in order to be with other kids, to be part of a classroom," Bialostozky said.
And Bosi knows there are other kids who could also benefit from this unique approach, taking the strategies and skills home from the safe space of a very special classroom, where they are learning they can be anything they want to be.