A Bright Start
Last month we celebrated our 6th annual graduating class of Thornwell’s four-year-old kindergarten program (4K) – the Class of 2019!
It was also the second graduating class of Thornwell’s three year-old (3K) kindergarten, a program which friends like you support so that our Early Head Start families have a warm and welcoming learning environment for their children in the “gap year” between Early Head Start (which serves infants through twos) and 4K.
You can imagine the excited, smiling faces of the 77 children, their proud families, and our teachers and administrative staff who change lives every day. Early Childhood Director Jenn Adams expressed her gratitude for the support of Early Head Start, SC First Steps, and Thornwell supporters. She shared, “It’s not just a day care center we’re operating. We come alongside families and their children to nurture, support, and foster life-long change.”
We come alongside families and their children to nurture, support, and foster life-long change.”
As the children and families were leaving the church following graduation, one mom, whose adopted son was in our Early Head Start program as a two-year-old when we opened in 2016, said, “I know I’ve said it before, but I just love Thornwell. Thornwell has changed our lives!”
A bit of back story will make this all the more special to you. This was a child whom we thought was potentially developmentally delayed when he came to us as a two-year-old because he lagged significantly behind his peers due to severe neglect as an infant. Not anymore – VP of Education Norman Dover says, “His development has exploded! It’s nothing short of miraculous.” He continued, “He is a very intelligent little boy!