Parents in the Santa Maria and Orcutt areas will soon have a new option when it comes to preschool for their children.
Blochman Union School District—which encompasses the unincorporated towns of Sisquoc, Garey, and Tepusquet—will host an open house event at its new preschool on Aug. 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Benjamin Foxen Elementary School, 4949 Foxen Canyon Road, in Sisquoc.
The decision to open a new preschool, said district superintendent Kristin Lima, was based on the need for licensed preschool facilities in the Santa Maria area.
“We’re really an ideal setting,” she explained, adding that the district will offer scholarships for eligible district residents. The preschool, however, is open to all students, and enrollment is ongoing.
Along with the preschool, the district is
celebrating the installation of a new “universally accessible” playground, which boasts a ramp that allows children in wheelchairs to get to the top of the structure, Lima said.
“In the past, they would have to sit on the sidewalk and watch the other kids play because the playground was all sand, and it just breaks your heart,” she said.
The district raised $100,000—including money from fundraisers, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, and the Santa Barbara County Office of Education—to pay for the playground.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 28 in Benjamin Foxen Community Park.
Lastly, the district has applied for a grant through the Orfalea Foundation’s sCool Food program to introduce an ag-infusion program to the preschool-through-eighth-grade curriculum.
If the grant is approved, Lima said the district will use the money to plant a garden, and incorporate the resulting fruits and vegetables into the district’s food service program.
“The kids will learn how to prep the food,” she said. “Like if we’re making broccoli soup, they’ll handle the broccoli. … And we’ll be inviting chefs to come in and teach the kids how to cook.”
Some of the money would also go toward remodeling the district’s kitchen, she said.
For more information about the preschool and other events, call the district office at
937-1148.
This article appears in Aug 6-13, 2009.
