InSight Supporter Newsletter

I hope you’re having a great summer despite the heat.

Every quarter, as we stop to catch our breath and update our supporters and partners, we realize how far the support you provide actually goes. We’re so grateful that you’re standing with us to educate children and youth and strengthen families.

We would like to congratulate this year’s graduating Pre-K students as they advance to kindergarten and beyond. As we say goodbye, we’re also gearing up to welcome the returning and new children and families who will spend the 2023-2024 school year with us. You can learn more of the lead-up to a new school year in A Fresh Start to School Readiness: A New CentroNía School Year below.

This year, CentroNía added two Montgomery County Head Start pilot classrooms to our programming, on top of already being a longstanding Early Head Start provider for 144 expectant women, infants and toddlers in DC and Maryland. So we're pleased to acknowledge nearly six decades and millions of children afforded the opportunity to succeed through the Dept. of Health and Human Service’s Head Start Program, which is celebrating 58 years since its launch!

There’s still a lot to do for universal childcare for 0-3; particularly when it comes to the extended-care programing. CentroNía’s full-day care is supplemented with extended-care services for children 0-4 years old and out-of-school time programming for children 5 to 10 years old, which provides safe, quality supervision while parents and caregivers work or attend school. While programs receiving state or federal support cover 6.5 hours of care, CentroNía has found that an 11-hour model is crucial for low-income households where all available parents and caregivers work, especially those whose employment is not secure, subjecting them to long and unpredictable working hours. Support from individual donors and foundations go a long way towards “funding the gap” so that parents have the peace of mind that their children are in a safe, caring and enriching environment.

We'll keep counting on your continued support and there are many ways you can do so this summer, while having fun yourself. July 30th is the International Day of Friendship, the perfect occasion to make a donation to CentroNía in honor of your friends or family members, who will receive an e-card to let them know that a donation was made in their honor!

You can also get your friends together at local pool for a swim-a-thon. Get sponsored, maybe $1.00 for every lap. You and your friends will be having fun while staying cool during these hot days.

We hope these ideas will spur you to keep supporting CentroNía. Enjoy the summer but please stay safe in the sun!

Sincerely,

Patrick Salami

Director of Development & Communications

202-332-4200 | psalami@centronia.org

P.S. Feel free to share our quarterly InSight newsletter with friends and make sure to follow CentroNía on social media!

For this year's summer camp program, CentroNía early learners have been an adventurous bunch! They have made many exciting field trips, including to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and the Aquarium.

Click on this link to view some pictures of our students and their latest summer camp adventures.

CentroNía is excited to share its latest Annual Report! After another successful year at CentroNía, we are happy to report all the helpful initiatives we have done in order to further uplift the children and families in Washington D.C and Maryland. From distributing 169,000 diapers to providing food relief by distributing $14,000 in food vouchers.

To learn more, click here to view CentroNía’s 2022 Annual Report.

At the end of summer, as we welcome in a new school year, fresh faces walk through our doors and remind us of the importance of high-quality early childhood education and care for the children and families in our community. A new school year brings exciting new lessons, friends, and routines. At CentroNía this is a time to build the foundational skills and dispositions that children need as they prepare for success in school.

Families like Chris, his wife Jessica, and daughter Madeleine remind us exactly why, come the end of August, we open our doors to bright-eyed, nervous faces ready to start a successful year of learning. Chris recently shared with us why he and Jessica chose CentroNía: “We always knew we wanted Madeline to attend a day care at a school that reflected our community and our hopes for a more equitable city.”

Chris’ wife Jessica volunteered at CentroNía back when she was a college student....

If you would like to read more about Madeleine, click here!

We'd like to give a special thanks to Aetna and Luciana Smith of Aetna Better Health of Maryland for donating period product kits and baby kits to CentroNía families. The kits included products such as liners and pads, baby wipes, thermometers and more!

Kits such as these are a great help to our CentroNía families as much of these products can by expensive or hard to find.

We're grateful to Aetna Better Health for their generous contribution as these donated kits can go a long way!

This past June CentroNía celebrated the Pre-K graduation for our early learners who attended our Maryland and Columbia Road centers. We wish our CentroNía alums all the best and a successful transition to kindergarten as they continue their education!

Visit our Facebook Page for more pictures!

In June, CentroNía hosted its annual Family Fun day! Families were able to stop by and enjoy some tasty food prepared by the CentroNía NíaCentral team, play some games, enjoy some face paint, and take part in our health fair by visiting some community health organizations.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and to those who volunteered for this event!

Visit our Facebook Page for more pictures!