It’s no wonder that children who face severe, and often multiple risk factors, have also historically led poor academic outcomes. Home life stressors such as a parent’s alcoholism or drug abuse, domestic violence and economic challenges create barriers for children’s learning. And then, there are some children who face traumas that no one at age should face. Recently, we’ve all seen those headlines and breaking new stories. Mom murdered. Dad on the run. Families broken. Children’s lives forever changed.
That is why we have Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool. A program of South Bay Community Services’ (SBCS) and part of Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood, Mi Escuelita is the only one of its kind in San Diego County designed especially for children affected by domestic violence and abuse to help break the cycle of violence and also help children heal and begin the right path for school.
Currently, Mi Escuelita has four little ones who have either been witness to a parent’s murder or have lost a parent due domestic violence. Many of the children are in foster care or being raised by a grandparent or single parent who is also learning to heal. There is currently funding for 72 children for all day therapeutic quality early education. There is an average waiting list of 50 children, but we’ve seen up to 90. Mi Escuelita is funded in part by First 5 San Diego, CalEMA, private donations, student sponsorships and SBCS Annual Change Their Lives Gala.
It’s not surprising that children who have been exposed to domestic violence are more likely than their peers to experience a wide range of difficulties that affect their development, education and health. While we knew from working with the families that specialized preschool was helping in their overall health, healing and education, we felt it important to closely examine the overall effectiveness – and the numbers proved our theory correctly.
An evaluation study was conducted by UCSD to examine the overall effectiveness of Mi Escuelita on school readiness for these vulnerable and at-risk children. This evaluation addressed the primary research question: What are the academic achievements of children who received services at Mi Escuelita in elementary school compared to their peers in the CVESD?
The current evaluation includes children who participated in the Mi Escuelita program from the fall of 2006 through the spring of 2012 and who were subsequently enrolled in the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD). The majority of children were located in the CVESD during kindergarten, though some left the district after participation in Mi Escuelita and later returned. Data for this evaluation was drawn from CVESD academic years 2007-2008 through 2012-2013.
Results from the evaluation clearly illustrate that, across all years, children who participated in the Mi Escuelita program performed equal to, and often better, than their peers on several different academic outcomes. Mi Escuelita students had greater success rates in passing the local area achievement tests in math, reading, and writing in kindergarten, demonstrating the effectiveness for the Mi Escuelita program on school readiness.
In addition, when following the Mi Escuelita children throughout their elementary careers, those early success rates were largely maintained. For example, even while Mi Escuelita children were in the 3rd grade, their scores were still, on average, higher than those in the larger CVESD. Children who had the opportunity to participate in the Mi Escuelita program also had greater success on California State Tests, which begin in 2nd grade, than did their peers.
Taken together, the Mi Escuelita program demonstrates clear benefits to children who may otherwise fall quickly and unsparingly behind with regard to school readiness. While it is impossible to know the continued circumstances surrounding the lives of Mi Escuelita children as they age and move through the elementary years, there is solace in recognizing that these children, who faced significant, traumatic life experiences at very young ages, continue to perform as well on key indicators of academic success as their peers who did not experience the same types of events.
We are on the right path. Continued commitment to the Mi Escuelita program, and the children it serves, cannot be underplayed. The therapeutic, developmental, and educational opportunities that the program affords its children appear pivotal for their downstream educational successes.
For more information on Mi Escuelita or a copy of the UCSD study overview, please contact Patty Chavez at PattyChavez@csbcs.org or call 619-420-3620.
Chavez is SBCS Director of Communications & External Affairs
