Old Brooklyn center director Hana Mohammad saw a need in her center families. As she was working through the universal pre-k requirements for her preschoolers, she noticed parents had some questions.
“Many kindergarten parents had no clue what to do,” Mohammad said. “Many parents came in asking me questions about when their child starts kindergarten, how they enroll, what's the best school for their child, and if they have to be tested.”
Because of the confusion, many parents were late enrolling their students or had trouble understanding how the Cleveland Metropolitan School District worked. Armed with this knowledge, Mohammad set to create something that could help ease the transition for parents and students. The result: A kindergarten fair.
“I started talking to my universal pre-k connections and asked if anyone had ever done a kindergarten fair,” she said. “The response I got was ‘no’ and that this sounded like a great idea. So I reached out to my contacts and shared some ideas.”
Mohammad and her contacts reached out to schools to see if they would be interested, and the response was encouraging. Horizon’s kindergarten fair isn’t just a place for parents and students to learn more about kindergarten: It featured kindergarten readiness activities from area schools and books from the Cleveland Book Bank. There was information for parents, too. Cleveland State University was there with information on how adults can further their education.
Groups in attendance included:
- Horizon Science Academy
- The Garden Christian Academy
- Help Me Grow
- Lutheran Memorial
- West Prep Academy
- Charles Mooney
- Cleveland Prep Academy
- Cleveland State University
- Cleveland Book Bank
“The first kindergarten fair family night turned out really well,” Mohammad said. “The schools told me this was great and want to join me again next year.”
Mohammad will make this a yearly event for families.
