Exciting news! A high-quality pre-K preschool will open in north College Park, on February 2020 and serve 120 children ages 3 to 5.

The preschool, called the Monarch Preschool, will be located in an 11,400-square-foot renovated space in College Park United Methodist Church on the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and Hollywood Road in College Park.

Monarch Preschool College Park will be founded by The Children’s Guild, and will be open year-round with a full-day program to include before- and after-school care.

The Children’s Guild is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 and dedicated to pioneering educational services for children and families.

Early last year, the College Park City Council approved a resolution in support of MD Senate Bill SB0331 for a capital appropriation of $250,000 for the College Park Early Learning Center. A year earlier, former Council member Nagle and I also met with the team members working on the project and discussed the opportunity to bring high-quality early childhood education to north College Park.

Early this year, a survey was conducted and a focus group meeting was held among potential College Park Preschool Parents.

Monarch Preschool is the result of the University District Vision, making College Park a sustainable top-20 college town by 2020 and a collaboration with The Children’s Guild.

“The Monarch Preschool College Park is part of a larger effort to make College Park a top university community and is being open in response to a community need for additional high-quality pre-K learning opportunities,” said Donna Wiseman, chair of the College Park University Partnership Education Committee and former dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland. “The preschool will be a hub for the community, and its leadership and advisory board includes members of the city and university communities.” – she said.

University of Maryland-alumna Kristin “Krissie” B. Taylor has been named director of Monarch Preschool College Park. Taylor has an extensive background and certifications in early education and, most recently, was the director of Heritage Learning Center in Hyattsville. She also is an advisor to the Maryland State Department of Education’s Ready at Five programs, and from 2006 to 2011, Taylor was an elementary special education teacher for Prince George’s County Public Schools. Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in family studies from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from McDaniel College.

Kristin “Krissie” B. Taylor (Director, Monarch Preschool)

“I am very excited to have the opportunity to lead Monarch Preschool College Park and foster a lifelong love of learning in our students as we focus on the whole child. Our spaces, curriculum, and teachers will all be active, engaged and helping children apply their learning to real-world issues based on high-quality, project-based learning, getting them ready for school and life beyond,” Taylor said.

Monarch Preschool’s advisory board is chaired by Fran Favretto, retired director of the University of Maryland Center for Young Children. Other advisory board members are Carolyn Bernache, chair of the College Park Education Advisory Committee, board member of College Park Academy and member of the College Park City-University Partnership Education Committee; Cat Peretti, a parent in College Park and executive director of My School DC; Denise Mitchell, College Park District 4 council member and founding board member of College Park Academy; and Valerie Woodall, senior program associate of College Park City-University Partnership.

“We look forward to collaborating and engaging with local assets in the College Park community, including working with the University of Maryland College of Education. We will be implementing a project-based curriculum that actively engages children in investigating the world around them as well as developing pathways for early childhood education teacher training, internships, research, and partnerships,” said Duane Arbogast, chief of strategy and innovation for The Children’s Guild Alliance and former chief academic officer for Prince George’s County Public Schools. “We are also excited to have Krissie, with her impressive background in early childhood learning and her connections in the community, as part of our team.”

Registration is now open. For more information on Monarch Preschool College Park, visit http://monarchpreschool.com or email engage@monarchpreschool.com.

[media credit: Monarch Preschool College Park]