Scuola Creativa Raising Money to Expand Preschool Offerings in Royal Oak
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Dec. 11, 2022)
Royal Oak, MI – With over 5,000 kids in Oakland County on wait lists for preschool programs, Steffanie Bowles is hoping the community will rally behind efforts to double the size of her Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool in Royal Oak called Scuola Creativa, by adding a second location.
An online fundraiser at Fundly.com seeks to help with expansion coasts as well as to provide scholarships for children who would not otherwise be able to attend.
Scuola Creativa is unique in that their program is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to education, developed in Italy following World War II. The educational philosophy is based on “the image of a child with strong potentialities for development and a subject with rights, who learns through the hundred languages belonging to all human beings, and grows in relations with others.”
According to their website, Scuola Creativa “upholds an image of the child as a powerful, competent, capable, and integral member of the community. We envision each family as unique, deserving of respect, and the center of the child’s life. Scuola Creativa has a vision for a just and civil society that values our shared humanity, fosters strong democratic communities, recognizes the uniqueness of each individual and appreciates diversity. We acknowledge children’s ability to reflect upon and contribute to their own learning through their many languages of expression and communication. Our vision is to base all decisions on the principles of Reggio Emilia, incorporating current research on learning as well as developmentally appropriate practice.”
Steffanie Bowles created Scuola Creativa in 2014, which moved to 25423 Woodward in 2018. The second location will be just two buildings north at 25519 Woodward Avenue.
Currently Bowles and her team serve 31 children. The new site will allow them to serve about 35 more. “We are basically doubling in size from one preschool and one infant-toddler classroom to two infant-toddler classrooms at our current site, and two preschool classrooms at our new site,” she said. Their goal is to open the second location in January, though they are still awaiting final approval from the City.
Bowles loves teaching. “My favorite thing to do with children is to be involved with long-term projects in which we use many of the ‘100 languages of children’ – paint, clay, light and shadow, and clay. By collecting documentation on what the children do, say and create and then reflecting on that documentation with colleagues, we decide what to do next in this wonderful organic process that integrates all of our strengths and interests. It really keeps teaching fresh, because you never know exactly where you will end up!”
Her mind is not only on the children in her care, but on the bigger problems that she and others in her business are struggling with. “Every childcare provider I know is struggling between the tensions of keeping care affordable for families while paying staff a living wage,” she said. “I would like more people to understand this and support initiatives like Universal Child Care. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the importance of child care and early education to the forefront of our minds so it feels like a good time to take steps to fix this broken system.”
Lena Stevens is mom to four year old Myra and two year old Vin. She and her partner Sre Chakra Reddy Yeddula love the care and education that Scuola Creativa provides.
“Scuola Creativa has enriched the lives of my children in ways that I am grateful for every day,” she said. “The teachers form such deep bonds that they feel like part of our family. The Scuola Creativa methodology sees teachers as documentarians, and they are constantly sharing in-depth observations that help me understand my children’s minds. It helps me as a parent to understand their joy, but also their fear and frustration. We navigate their growth together- parents alongside teachers, alongside children. It’s beautiful and challenging all rolled into one, and I hope the teachers go home knowing we love them.”
Learn more about Scuola Creativa at https://scuolacreativa.com/
Chip in to the fundraiser at https://fundly.com/help-open-another-childcare-facility-1
