- Signatures: 852
- Goal: 1,000
- Deadline: 4-25-2008
See Full Petition
Email this PetitionSave the Early Learning Center!
| Number | Date | Prefix | Name | Please feel free to share your thoughts on this issue. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 852 | 11:49 am PST, Feb 26 | BARBARA WORKMAN | i ATTENDED KUTZTOWN BETWEEN 1993-1997 AND DID MANY OF MY FIELD STUDIES IN THIS CENTER. I NOW AM A DIRECTOR OF A CHILD CARE CENTER AND KNOW FOR A FACT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IT PROVIDED FOR OUR YOUNGEST LEARNER. SOMETIMES EARLY LEARNING CENTER ARE THE ONLY PLACE A CHILD CAN GO AND FEEL COMPLETELY SECURE AND SAVE, AND STILL LEARN. PLEASE RETHINK YOUR DECISION BEFORE SHUTTING THE LEARNING CENTER DOWN, NOT ONLY DOES IT PROVIDE EXCELLENT CARE IT PROVIDE AND EXAMPLE TO FUTURE TEACHERS AND PROVIDERS ON WHAT QUALITY CHILD CARE LOOKS LIKE. | |
| 851 | 5:43 am PST, Jan 17 | Mrs. | Heather Campbell | |
| 850 | 11:57 am PDT, May 14 | Ms. | Ginger Geronimo | |
| 849 | 6:50 pm PDT, Mar 20 | Stephanie Borton | ||
| 848 | 4:38 am PST, Feb 18 | terry l. west | ||
| 847 | 12:43 am PST, Feb 12 | Victoria Thomas | ||
| 846 | 12:17 pm PST, Jan 29 | Anton Oscar Iorga | ||
| 845 | 1:18 am PST, Dec 20 | Simos Tarabatzis | ||
| 844 | 11:48 am PDT, Oct 24 | Ms. | Katie O'Shea | |
| 843 | 9:12 pm PDT, Oct 15 | Mrs. | Anonymous | This is a wonderful school. I hope that it will still be open so that my son will be able to attend in a few years. |
| 842 | 6:12 am PDT, Aug 14 | Mrs. | Patricia Holmes | |
| 841 | 8:54 pm PDT, Jul 5 | Jennifer Wieder | ||
| 840 | 8:59 pm PDT, Jun 18 | William Harper | ||
| 839 | 7:11 pm PDT, Jun 7 | Ms. | Katie Adams | |
| 838 | 9:45 am PDT, Jun 5 | Owen Barton | ||
| 837 | 11:40 am PDT, May 14 | Michael C. Kilczewski | ||
| 836 | 1:53 pm PDT, May 11 | Kim Cowell | I feel very fortunate that each of my three children has been able to attend the ELC! | |
| 835 | 6:53 am PDT, May 11 | ROBERT STREBECK | ||
| 834 | 4:17 am PDT, May 11 | Debbie Parker | ||
| 833 | 3:41 am PDT, May 11 | rhonda fazenbaker | ||
| 832 | 6:52 pm PDT, May 10 | Leona Fritch | Closing the ELC would be very sad. It's a FANTASTIC school. I really hope that it can be saved. | |
| 831 | 5:12 pm PDT, May 10 | Jodie Miller | My daughter went to the ELC and it was a wonderful experience for the whole family. It would be a shame to have it end. | |
| 830 | 1:53 pm PDT, May 10 | Anonymous | ||
| 829 | 11:07 am PDT, May 10 | Tania Naim | ||
| 828 | 12:43 am PDT, May 10 | Dr. | Arleen Watkins | All three of my children attended ELC. They had fantastic experiences and were thoroughly grounded in the basics. They enjoyed their activities and teachers. There was also a close bonding among the parents of these children some of which exists yet today. I was disappointed when some of the upper grades were dropped. Now, let this not be the complete end of a good program! |
| 827 | 7:11 pm PDT, May 9 | David Grim | ||
| 826 | 1:44 pm PDT, May 8 | Ms. | Shelley Moore | |
| 825 | 1:31 pm PDT, May 8 | Mrs. | Brenda S. McHale | Both my children attended the Early Learning Center while I was working on my teaching certificate so we all went to college together. They loved the experience and so did I. |
| 824 | 12:57 pm PDT, May 8 | Mr. | Steve Cromity Jr. | |
| 823 | 11:36 am PDT, May 8 | Joel Schmoyer | ||
| 822 | 10:30 am PDT, May 8 | Mrs. | Alicia Noll | |
| 821 | 10:12 am PDT, May 8 | Ms. | Amanda Fick | |
| 820 | 9:40 am PDT, May 8 | Jennie Schmoyer | ||
| 819 | 8:14 am PDT, May 8 | Mrs. | Brandi Benner | |
| 818 | 8:11 am PDT, May 8 | Jeffrey Maust | The ELC helped my child develope the skills he needed to enter kindergarten and I am sure that it helped many student at KU as well with developing their educational methods. It is sad to hear that new management feels that their students can learn elsewhere. This not only affects the students of the college but it affects the community as yet another program that is displaced due to monetary/ political hogwash! | |
| 817 | 8:04 am PDT, May 8 | Rob Reynolds | The outpouring of support for the ELC needs to be channeled into a holistic effort to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the existing program, evaluate its role in the University's academic mission, explore funding opportunities, and chart a path that leads to the long-term viability of this important institution. | |
| 816 | 7:23 am PDT, May 8 | Dawn Greenawalt | ||
| 815 | 6:38 am PDT, May 8 | Michael Shires | ||
| 814 | 6:36 am PDT, May 8 | Patricia Herman | ||
| 813 | 6:16 am PDT, May 8 | Mrs. | Heather Watkins | |
| 812 | 4:49 am PDT, May 8 | Karen Mahoney | I taught Kindergarten for almost 30 years. Its role in education is vital and well documented. To eliminate an early education program at a time when education needs everyone's support to meet the goals of NO Child Left Behind is a blow to the children as well as those trained to teach them. I urge you not to eliminate thiis program for their sakes as well as the vitality of the college. | |
| 811 | 3:25 am PDT, May 8 | Lou Chiesa | Keep the program...it's important to those who'll teach our children and to our children themselves. | |
| 810 | 4:50 pm PDT, May 7 | Mrs. | joan lile | please help save our school |
| 809 | 3:49 pm PDT, May 7 | Mrs. | sandra wilmot | |
| 808 | 5:44 am PDT, May 7 | Carl Mantz | I certainly urge the KU administration to exhaustively explore reasonable funding alternatives that will ultimately assure the continued life of KU's highly valued, educationally attractive and beneficial ELC program. | |
| 807 | 1:53 am PDT, May 7 | Mr. | Pascal Doran | |
| 806 | 6:48 pm PDT, May 6 | Joan Haring | ||
| 805 | 4:34 pm PDT, May 6 | Ms. | Melissa J. Nowotarski | I am twenty seven years old and I went to the ELC as a child and I can still remember some of the experiences I had there like the rice table, and Mrs. Fisher's kindergarten letter people. I read my first book there from the 'library'. I remember the student teachers too. I am currently in the teaching profession and I believe part of that is because of the wonderful teachers I have had throughout my life and they started with the fine people in the excellent ELC program at Kutztown college. |
| 804 | 4:18 pm PDT, May 6 | Mrs. | Jessica Mullen | |
| 803 | 11:39 am PDT, May 6 | Ellen Gilmore | Studies have shown Early Childhood Education to be more and more important to later learning experiences. An early educational opportunity under the wing of an University is not only excellent beginning for young children, but also for those University students to be exposed to the latest theories in practice, a practical, hands on learning experience. | |
| 802 | 8:27 am PDT, May 6 | Claire Bleiler | I feel disgusted that anybody would want to shut down the ELC. This is an amazing school and I will be terribly upset if the ELC gets shut down! | |
| 801 | 8:00 am PDT, May 6 | Mrs. | Paula Gabe | I attended a university where they had a similar set up - East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. The expierence in invaluable. The time the students get to work with the kids and use the information and skills they are learning is equivilent to the Nursing students doing their clincals. Hands-on expierience is so very valuable in any field. It would be very disheartening to take away that expierence from the students. |
Save the ELC
Kutztown University has an amazing preschool and kindergarten program called the Early Learning Center (ELC). It has been a feather in the cap of the university for a long time, providing true excellence in education not just for the children who go through the program but for the college students who learn from the lab school as well. Over 4,000 observation hours are provided by the ELC to Kutztown education majors each academic year. Student teachers and graduate students also benefit from participating in the program. In short, it has always been a program that we have been able to point to with pride.
• It will affect our ability to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff. With the heavy teaching loads and pressures for scholarship and service in order to be tenured and/or promoted, young faculty families, as do those everywhere, rely increasingly on quality child care and education.
• It will affect our ability to recruit and retain education majors. The ELC is a selling point for attracting students with a passion for teaching.
• It will affect university/borough relationships. Countless families in Kutztown have had students in the Early Learning Center, often for multiple generations.
The ELC is not something irrelevant or unessential that can be trimmed away without damaging the entire entity. It has been an integral part of the institution from the beginning. It reflects our core values and helps us achieve our vision of being "the region’s center for excellence in academics, culture, and public engagement" (Kutztown University Vision Statement http://www.kutztown.edu/about/mission.shtml).
We ask the administration of Kutztown University to honor its commitment to educational excellence as a teaching institution by maintaining support for this vibrant and valuable aspect of our community.
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