Desert Sands Unified School District prepares students for college, career, and life. That is our vision statement. This mantra leads to high school graduation but it begins in our pre-school classes. Every day of the school year our youngest students, beginning at age three, walk through the doors of their classrooms ready to learn. They learn social emotional, math, language and literacy skills and, most importantly, to think.
Head Start and California state preschool classrooms can be found throughout the district including the district education center, Adams Early Childhood Learning Center, Summerfield Apartments in Indio, independent home-based learning, and at district elementary schools Van Buren, Lincoln, Jackson, Johnson, Hoover, and Eisenhower. But classroom instruction isn’t enough when it comes to instilling a love of learning into the hearts and minds of our youngest students. That love of learning…and reading…also takes place in the home.
With that in mind, the staff of our early childhood education programs have developed a three-session program for the 2019-2020 school year to encourage dads to join in the fun and participate in activities with their children. The word “dad” is meant to represent any adult who the child sees as a father figure or parent. The first session, held in February, was on literacy and over 50 “dads” attended. The children taught their guests songs and dances and then shared books and stories in both English and Spanish. Victoria Jimenez, a DSUSD early childhood educator at Martin Van Buren Elementary School, led the session with the assistance of Jose Tamias from the Early Childhood Education Center at the district office.
According to Jay Rallion, Ed.D., principal of early childhood learning for the district, “The sessions encourage fathers, or other significant adults in our children’s lives, to participate in the school life of our children.” He noted that students went home from the first Fun Night With Dad with books to share with their families.
The next session, on physical activity, will be held in March. The third and final session of the year will focus on nutrition and will be held in April. For more information on the program, contact Jose Tamias at
[email protected].