Craig Hockenberry: The Robert and Adele Schiff Early
Learning Center
I remember taking Mr.
Schiff on a tour of Oyler
School in December of 2010. We
started with all the different services throughout the building that included;
Mental Health, medical, college access, tutoring, parent center, vision center,
social services, and I showed him the future plans for dental services. I then took him through the high school,
middle school, and elementary. He was
very engaging and interested in the concept of the Community Learning Center
and with our partnership with Darlene Kamine.
Mr. Schiff had many questions about student achievement, social work,
and other systems we have put in place to remove barriers for kids growing up
in poverty. He asked all the right questions and I could tell right away that
he wanted to be a part of the success at Oyler.
We continued our tour
of the school and talked in great detail about breaking the cycle of poverty.
As we moved through the conversation and through the tour I could almost feel
the question coming from him that I knew was going to change Oyler School
forever. We went back to my office and within a few minutes the question came
and I was READY!
Mr. Schiff asked me if
there was one thing that Oyler needed more than anything else to help continue
with the great success what would it be? I started my answer before he even got
all of his question out. I looked him
right in the eyes, and told him we needed to capture the students from Lower
Price Hill when they are infants and develop them as toddlers, preschool, and
then seamlessly transition them into Kindergarten. In short, I told him we needed them inside
this facility 3-4 years before they hit a Kindergarten seat and while they were
here we needed them involved in top quality early learning activities as part
of their development.
Days after the tour, I
was told that the Schiff Family would be donating funds to create the Robert and Adele
Schiff Early Learning Center at Oyler School which would allow us to operate
one of the most innovative early learning centers in the entire region. Their impact has been tremendous and the
partnership has been truly one of a kind. Children age 6 months to 4 years of
age have access to top quality childcare giving them opportunities to prepare
for Kindergarten.
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