Cinderella's Dress

Sergio is a four-year-old student in our program and he is in Ms. Tonya’s and Ms. Ana’s class at our Birchmere site in Alexandria. He is bright and very funny…a big ham! His sister, Heidi, was one of our preschool students and now she is in second grade. She gets excellent grades and enjoys singing and creating any kind of artwork. I have one of her drawings in my office. Today Heidi came with her Mom to pick up her brother, Sergio. She was all dressed up in what Sergio calls her “Cinderella dress” because she sang in a holiday assembly at school today. She explained to me that she and her classmates performed songs in English, Spanish and even Japanese, and then – to my delight - she demonstrated a couple of the songs! It was gratifying to see her self-assured demeanor, and to take a little credit on behalf of CFNC, for her continued success in school and life.

I love working in a setting where I often have the opportunity and pleasure to see and talk with our former students and their parents at various points along the way and see how well they and their families are doing. I encounter our former students in the public schools in which we have classrooms and in CFNC’s Birchmere site where my office is located if they have a younger sibling enrolled in our program. I also see them in Arlandria, the Birchmere’s neighborhood, where my husband and I also live. What a gift and a joy!

by Donna Bain