In 2001, four siblings, two with education degrees and two with business degrees, had a vision to combine their talents to start Bridges Preschool.
“They had a passion for building a bridge for later learning,” said Cari McMinn, director at the Power and Brown roads location. Their corporation is More Opportunities Regarding Education, or MORE.
Today, Bridges has expanded to seven preschool locations across the East Valley. They now are recognized as the official preschool on the East Valley Institute of Technology campus, in Downtown Mesa.
According to the First Things First Web site at www.readyazkids.com, 90 percent of the brain is developed within the first five years of a person’s life. Positive early childhood education is a stepping stone for later successes in school. Bridges hires only teachers who have degrees in early childhood education or child-related fields. They have student teachers from various colleges, along with interns who are 18-year-old seniors in high school and have taken child development classes.
Bridges empowers students to be problem solvers. They ascribe to the Becky Bailey Conscious Discipline philosophy. Interactions with the students are respectful, appropriate and at the student’s level. Bridges offers hands-on learning with manipulatives and dramatic play, as well as diverse centers focused on science, cooking and gardening for all students. They have an adventure playground, which is famous around the state, complete with a musical section, mud section, tricycle track and other delightfully engaging areas.
Ocean Adventures Anchored in Literacy is this year’s summer program. They have four two-week sessions, which run through June and July for children 2 years old and up until third grade. You can sign up for all or just one session. The children get to travel to ocean-related regions around the world, and experience the cultural diversity through engaging activities, which all are integrated with literature.
For students entering first, second or third grade, Bridges offers a Young Learners program, allowing these students to build leadership and mentoring skills through their activities. Besides all these wonderful opportunities, Bridges has created Summer Specialty classes, offered during the naptime, for those students who are 4 years and older. For a separate fee, children can enroll in classes, such as Cooking Around the World, Sculpting, or Pee Wee Picasso.
Bridges lays the foundation for future successes in school. Registration began on April 1. For more information, check out the Bridges Preschool Web site at www.bridgespreschool.com, or call Cari McMinn at (480) 924-8008.