A new series by WOSU Public Media features the A. Sophie Rogers School for Early Learning, along with two other early care programs in Columbus. The Right Start video series highlights two particular aspects of the school’s early learning program as worth replicating—diversity and high-quality teaching.
View the first video, Fostering Diversity and Inclusion, to see A. Sophie Rogers classrooms in action and hear from Dr. Laura Justice, Executive Director of the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy and the Schoenbaum Family Center.
Dr. Justice describes the value of mixed age grouping in early care settings as well as mixed income environments—and touches on the importance of public funding policy to help make this a reality, including funding from the City of Columbus and Columbus City Schools. (Read more on the School’s blended funding model here.) She says:
“To live in a diverse country, we have to understand one another. If we don’t understand one another we become very very siloed—siloed as a function of our religion, our political beliefs, our neighborhoods. And that creates conflict and lack of understanding. And so if we can, from when children are very, very young, come to understand that in this society people have different beliefs, they have different values, they have different languages, and dialects and accents and skin colors, if we can embrace that early on, children are much better prepared to exist and thrive in diverse country.”
The second video, Teachers Are Key, highlights the role of high-quality teachers in early care and education settings. Hear teachers Vanessa Shrontz, Sara Bradley, and Meredith Schilling discuss the importance of building strong relationships with students, play-based learning, Pre-K to elementary school transitions, and peer relationships.
Be sure to check out the WOSU series and share with folks who may want to learn more about the A. Sophie Roger School for Early Learning or about best practices in early care and education.
