Early Childhood Education
The Chaparral Family Development Center (CFDC) started as a 2-Star Daycare Center in 2007. Today, it is formally a 5-Star FOCUS pilot project (previously known as AIM HIGH) and now a Pre-Kinder Program. Its history dates back to early 2000 when a group of women were interested in creating an economic development facility and childcare center that would benefit the residents of Chaparral. While we have had many challenges, we have learned a lot in the last eleven years and the Center has evolved to meet the original goals of providing much needed services in Chaparral as well as a source of employment.
As a social enterprise, the Center has contributed in creating employment opportunities in the community of Chaparral. If we consider the indirect benefits, we need to look at how the Center impacts the local economy of Chaparral. Small local businesses provide necessary services to the Center. All the employees of the Center are residents of Chaparral, allowing them to save in travel costs to other parts of the Doña Ana County or El Paso, increasing disposable income for their families.
In the Fall of 2013, the Center began offering a formal Pre-K Program that operates under the auspices of the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD), Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program. There are only four other Pre-K programs in Chaparral. There is a dire need to create ample opportunities for academic success and the Center is intent on filling the void.In the Fall of 2014, the CFDC expanded the Pre-K program to six hours a day, providing further opportunities for children to reach parity and make the transition to regular kindergarten programs.
Objectives of Pre-K Program
- Collaboration between other ECE programs,
sharing of professional expertise - Professional development for all teachers.
They are required to be currently enrolled in
post-secondary ECE courses - Provide links to established educational systems
- Focus on Growth: tracking, monitoring,
and individualized work plans for children - Assure Parents understand the developmental
progress their children are making so that they
can become more involved in their children’s
academic success - Parent involvement