Is Seeds of Learning going to make it?

Maybe not.

Without financial sustainability Seeds of Learning cannot keep its doors open. Along with tuition, individual donations, grants and successful fund-raisers are necessary elements in the Seeds annual budget. th

What exactly is Seeds of Learning, you ask?

Seeds of Learning is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) early care and education center that is owned by no one, but belongs to the community of Pagosa Springs; a center that is completely paid for. Its mission is to provide high quality early care and education to all children, regardless of family structure or income. The center is open year round, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily and currently serves 58 children.

So what exactly does Seeds of Learning do, you ask?

Seeds of Learning is a kindergarten readiness school — school that provides three quality classrooms, one toddler room for those ages 18 months to age 3, and two preschool classrooms, for ages 3, 4, and 5. All three classrooms follow Creative Curriculum — an evidenced based program that allows teachers their autonomy following 50 goals and objectives that ensure kindergarten readiness. Each child is tracked and an individual learning plan is created to meet his or her educational needs at Seeds of Learning. Two parent teacher conferences a year inform parents of their child’s developmental and educational progress. If developmental testing is needed, a child is referred to BoCS (Board of Certified Services) and a screening is scheduled. Classroom environment and lesson plans are rotated weekly. The preschool classrooms walk to the library once a month. They also have lunch and sing songs at the senior center once a month with their “new” friends (multi-generational relationships are very important to children of this age). Each child has an annual dental, vision and hearing screening, free of charge. Nutrition is crucial to healthy brain development, too. All the children are served breakfast, a hot nutritional lunch and an afternoon snack during their day at school. If their tummies are empty, their brains can’t function properly. The children’s days at Seeds are busy singing, painting and participating in circle time. It may feel and look like play to the children, but a very intentional kindergarten readiness program is being presented daily.

Statistics show that early development and socialization provide a love of learning and self-confidence. Together these attributes increase the likelihood that children will have the desire to stay in school, achieve higher levels of education, succeed in their jobs/careers, and avoid the temptation of drugs and crime.

Once a child reaches age 5, 85-90 percent of their core brain structures have been formed. In other words, by that time most of the “stuff” that can influence a child’s brain, good and bad, has already taken place. Seeds of Learning takes this window of opportunity very seriously. The analogy used is that each child’s “CD” is being burned, and at or around age 5, it will be finalized. The intentional kindergarten readiness program is putting all the “good stuff” in their little brains so when they attend kindergarten they won’t start behind their peers. By the time a child reaches puberty brain development plateaus, and at or around age 16, it even drops a bit.

Why are we spending so much money on remediation programs in high schools when brain development is declining? Why aren’t we spending more money on the education of a child before they reach the age of 5, when brain development is the highest it will ever be in their entire life? With early education and development, most of these costly remediation programs required in high school would eventually become unnecessary. With more children entering kindergarten not able to pass the screening test, it’s never been more evident how valuable pre-K education is.

It is estimated that there are currently over 500 children in Archuleta County who need some form of early care and education. There are approximately 220 licensed slots. That’s a huge deficit for the children, for the families and for economic development.

Many people think because they don’t have children or children under the age of 5, that contributing to an early care and education program isn’t their responsibility. But let’s think about it. Do they own a business? Do their employees have children under the age of 5? Do the dental hygienist who cleans your teeth, the young mother at the grocery store who bags your groceries, the mechanic who fixes your car, and the person who helps you at our hardware and lumber stores; have children under the age of 5? Probably so. What if they couldn’t come to work tomorrow because they couldn’t find childcare? Employers depend on reliable child care as much as parents do. In fact, in the interest of making profits, many large corporations provide on-site child care for their employees. It’s a trickle-down effect, which would affect all of us.

Tuition covers about two-thirds of the annual operating budget at Seeds. Sustaining a high quality early care and education program through tough economic times has proven quite challenging. Seeds of Learning is not begging for money to make a profit, it is seeking sustainability so it can continue to make a difference. Seeds relies on contributions given on a regular basis to ensure its doors can stay open in years to come.

Some have asked why parents don’t pay tuition. The parents do pay. Eighty–five percent of the parents pay $26 per day. The other 15 percent pay up to the full cost according to their income level. The full cost is $52 per day. Seeds of Learning uses a sliding scale created by HUD (Housing and Urban Development) for Archuleta County. Even though most parents at Seeds of Learning cannot pay the full cost of tuition, they participate in parent fund-raisers and parent involvement projects to keep tuition costs low. They volunteer in the classroom, go on field trips so kids can go to the library, take laundry home, maintain the landscaping, provide snow plowing, the list goes on and on. Parent involvement is an important aspect of Seeds’ program.

Americans never pay the full cost of education at any level. A child’s education is subsidized through college. For example, think of public school. We all pay for children to attend public school through the taxes we pay. Whether we have children in school or not, we still pay a tax that supports our schools. Head Start programs are subsidized by the federal government, churches pay for most of the overhead in a church preschool program and for-profit centers charge the full price, usually $40 a day and up. Colleges have “benefactors/donors” that contribute millions of dollars every year. Tuition, at any level of education, will never cover the costs of a high quality program. The same is true at Seeds of Learning.

In August of 2004 a doctor from Dallas called Seeds of Learning and asked if she and her husband (also a doctor) could be sent an enrollment packet because they’d like to enroll their 3- and 4-year-olds in November. She said she and her husband had owned property in Pagosa for several years and had always wanted to live here. They were going to build a house and raise their children in a beautiful mountain town. They knew that a hospital was going to be built in the near future and were excited to become part of such a “forward thinking” community. She was told that Seeds had a waiting list of 48 names and was e-mailed a list of all the licensed providers and other centers/preschool in the area. She said she would be in touch. About a week later she called. She said that they weren’t going to move to Pagosa Springs after all, that they had actually listed their property for sale. After checking with all the licensed programs in Archuleta County and finding out there were no slots available, they had made their decision. She said maybe Pagosa Springs wasn’t such a “forward thinking” community after all. In her opinion, not having early care and education available was a huge “red flag” to her and her husband. What did that cost this community? Economic development is directly linked to early care and education availability in a community.

In July, Seeds of Learning was dangerously close to having to close because it had no money. Seeds is required to retain $150,000 in its reserve account, and it had less than $10,000. Because many grants have basically gone away and individual donations were at the lowest point ever, the $10,000 wasn’t going to get us through the summer. A “distress” letter was written by the board of directors and sent to our faithful annual contributors. Within three weeks, Seeds of Learning received $20,000. To all of you who stepped up to help, thank you — you came to our rescue. We truly could not have made it through the summer without your support.

Is Seeds of Learning going to make it? No, just as the public schools won’t make it without our tax money, just as the colleges won’t make it without benefactors. Seeds of Learning needs community support to achieve sustainability.

Please consider Seeds of Learning as you ponder your year-end giving. When you donate to Seeds you are contributing to the sustainability of a much needed early care and education program. You are being proactive, not reactive. Think of it as paying it forward.

Giving to Seeds of Learning can be a win-win relationship. Because of the State of Colorado Income 35 Childcare Tax Contribution Credit, Colorado residents could receive up to a 50-percent tax credit on the state tax return. If you contribute to Seeds of Learning, you receive a DR1317 form at the end of the year. This form provides the information needed to claim the tax credit. Ask your accountant how it could apply to you!

If you have questions, call Lynne Bridges at 264-5513 or visit the Web site www.growingseeds.org. If you’d like to mail a donation, send checks to Seeds of Learning, P.O. Box 5831, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147.