{"id":31819,"date":"2016-09-29T10:15:15","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T14:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=31819"},"modified":"2016-09-29T10:16:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T14:16:03","slug":"officials-celebrate-opening-of-gordon-early-literacy-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=31819","title":{"rendered":"Officials celebrate opening of Gordon Early Literacy Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Gordon Early Literacy Center celebrates its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2013 Standing at the podium during the September 21 dedication ceremony of the Gordon Early Literacy Center in Coatesville, State Representative Harry Lewis Jr. (R-74) spoke with pride.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis building has been involved in so many levels of education,\u201d said Representative Lewis, a Coatesville native, a graduate of Coatesville Area High School and a 40-year educator in the Coatesville Area School District prior to entering the political arena. \u201cIt was an elementary school, a junior high school, an alternative school, a college campus. I remember when this site was for driver\u2019s ed and the state police driver\u2019s tests. It\u2019s had good days and bad days, and look at how we have revived it today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gordon Early Literacy Center is a cutting-edge preschool center for Coatesville area children ages 3-to-5 years that encompasses 18 new preschool classrooms. The center\u2019s 320 students have access to high quality preschool education, instructional technology and related services and supports in order to promote school readiness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the only one of its kind (in the state),\u201d said Representative Lewis. \u201cWe\u2019re actually doing the job and walking the walk. Coatesville has a proud tradition, and it\u2019s time to revisit that tradition. I\u2019m proud of the partnership that made this happen. I want this to make the Commonwealth and the county proud of Coatesville\u2019s achievement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Center is a unique partnership between the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), the Coatesville Area School District (CASD) and the United Way of Chester County. The school\u2019s 18 classrooms include nine Head Start classrooms, four preschool special education classrooms, four Coatesville Area School District classrooms and United Way\u2019s Uniting Neighbors Impacting Families and Youth classroom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And, it\u2019s free to students.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gordon Early Literacy Center is a public and private partnership that receives federal and state grants to fund and operate Head Start and Preschool Special Education services. Additionally, CASD and CCIU are contributing additional funds to operate classrooms for children that are not covered through the available grants. The governing bodies that oversee the preschool services are supportive of this blended funding model.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gordon Early Literacy Center is proof of the good work that we can accomplish through public and private partnerships,\u201d said Dr. Joseph O\u2019Brien, Executive Director of the CCIU. \u201cThis project has united neighbors and community organizations together to have a positive impact on the children and families in our Coatesville community. This unity is evident in the many distinguished guests and illustrious speakers who are here today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other speakers included CASD Board President, Dean A. Snyder; CCIU Board President, Bonnie J. Wolff of the Avon Grove School District; Coatesville Area School District Superintendent, Dr. Cathy Taschner; United Way of Chester County Executive Director, Claudia Hellebush; state Senator, Andy Dinniman of West Whiteland (D-19); and Pennsylvania Chapter NAACP President, Dr. Joan Evelyn Duvall-Flynn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two resounding themes came through loud and clear in the words voiced by the speakers \u2014 the incredible and unique partnership between the CCIU, the school district and the United Way that brought this idea to fruition; and the importance that quality childhood education brings to future success in school and in life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taschner called early literacy the foundation of a student\u2019s future success and said the Coatesville Area School Board\u2019s \u201ccommitment was unwavering.\u201d The addition of the preschool classrooms is part of the CASD\u2019s Literacy Equity Initiative. The September opening of the Gordon Early Literacy Center coincided with the Ready to Read program for Kindergartners, which is fundamental to the district\u2019s \u201con-grade by third grade\u201d reading efforts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gordon Early Literacy Center is proof what can happen when we work together,\u201d Taschner said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her sentiments were echoed by Wolff. \u201cIt takes an entire community to work together in order for children to get the education they deserve, said Wolff. \u201cIt takes a village, a true partnership of public and private entities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hellebush, who cited the monetary efforts of United Way companies in helping the Gordon Literacy Center come to fruition, said she and O\u2019Brien first talked a year ago about the need and possibility of a literacy center. Now, they are \u201clooking forward to growing this program to the point it grows past this building.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Dinniman said, \u201cToday we celebrate every child having a chance to succeed (through early education), and that\u2019s what it is all about. Every child gets a head start, that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Duvall-Flynn said early literacy is a focus agenda item of the NAACP. \u201cWe know all the benefits and how essential it is,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s enjoy this and let\u2019s see if we can replicate it in other places in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the remarks, a ribbon-cutting officially opened the literacy center. A reception and tours of the building followed. Those in attendance also were treated to a performance of the ABC song by children in the Head Start program.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COATESVILLE \u2013 Standing at the podium during the September 21 dedication ceremony of the Gordon Early Literacy Center in Coatesville, State Representative Harry Lewis Jr. (R-74) spoke with pride.\u00a0 \u201cThis building has been involved in so many levels of education,\u201d said Representative Lewis, a Coatesville native, a graduate of Coatesville Area High School and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7912,495,2727,8919,321],"class_list":["post-31819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-avon-grove-school-district","tag-chester-county-intermediate-unit","tag-coatesville-area-school-district","tag-gordon-early-literacy-center","tag-united-way"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31819"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31822,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31819\/revisions\/31822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}