Welcome to our center!
Learning takes place year-round for families at the Mel Carnahan Family Learning Center (MCFLC) in St. James. MCFLC administrates the federal Even Start Family Literacy program through the St. James R-1 School District. Enrolling new families is ongoing at the center.
“The concept of Even Start is that education is provided to the family as a whole,” explains center director Cheryl Harlan. “By providing adult education, early childhood education, parenting classes and ‘parent and child together’ time, we approach literacy through the family. This is the surest way to increase education levels of adults and children because the approach expands the skills of both, and draws on the power of the family to affect its own future. As parents seek education, it also takes on a greater importance for their children.”
Enrolled families commit to a 4-day, 28-hour per week program where they attend parenting classes, adult education classes, enroll their children in early childhood care, and participate in a parent-child together time (PACT) at the end of each day. The center partners with the school district’s Parents As Teachers program to provide that service to families as well. MCFLC has served over 340 families in Phelps County since its inception in 1996.
The center provides a full-day Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) classroom with a full-time instructor. Adult students participate in GED prep studies, basic skill instruction, computer learning, employability skills, and other skills to enhance their lives. Self-paced and individualized classroom instruction is available for any adult 16 and over who is not enrolled in public school. Students may be attending with their children as part of the Even Start program; others are “community” students who attend AEL class only.
In addition to AEL, the center is a state-licensed childcare facility (36-child capacity). The preschool class is offered Monday-Thursday, 8-4 p.m. for children ages 3-Pre-Kindergarten. The classroom follows the Project Construct Curriculum and adheres to state standards for Pre-Kindergarten education and Kindergarten readiness. Early childhood education at MCFLC is also offered to the youngest of children with care and learning for children from birth to age 3 within the infant and toddler classrooms, respectively. Each classroom offers age-appropriate materials, toys, games and instructional items along with a caring staff of teachers and caregivers trained in early childhood education.
For Even Start family enrollment information or for more information on other services offered at MCFLC, contact the center at 265-6600.
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