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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Young readers get a hand

School’s literacy event features local leaders

Seven-year-old Sam McEnany, center, a student at North Star Child Development Center, is ready to give answers during class at the school in Coeur d’Alene on Monday. A reading-themed open house Nov. 9 will benefit North Star, which provides child care services for children of all abilities from 18 months to 7 years old. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
Jacob Livingston jackliverpoole@yahoo.com

Local community leaders in a wide range of professional roles will read their favorite children’s books at an open-house fundraiser and literacy awareness night hosted by a local nonprofit’s school Nov. 9, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Proceeds from the event, which will include readings from firefighters, police officers and Mayor Sandi Bloem in a makeshift campfire setting in the gym-turned forest, as well as activities for parents and their kids, will benefit scholarships for the North Star Child Development Center. The center is an inclusive school for children 18 months to 7 years of age that provides educational and child care services to “typical” students and those diagnosed with developmental disabilities ranging from autism spectrum disorders to Down syndrome.

The “typical” students serve as peers to the other students in small classroom sizes with trained therapists and teachers and curriculum plans that match each child’s individual skills and needs. With 35 staff members and 47 students, the more one-on-one educational programs include toddler, preschool, prekindergarten and kindergarten classes.

“Children of all abilities deserve the very best education. Our mission is to provide developmentally appropriate programs for all children regardless of their developmental stage and/or abilities,” said Beth Marceau, executive director of the school.

Since the school receives its primary funding from Medicaid – as much as 90 percent, according to Marceau – with some help from private tuition fees, the scholarships will go toward enrolling more peer students to serve as models for speech and appropriate behavior to the other students. The four-year-old center, which last year moved into its new home in a remodeled former church, expanded this year by adding a first-grade class, and the hope is to add a second-grade class next year, Marceau said.

“We’ve been really successful with the programs,” she said, adding that the demand from local parents drove the decision to expand the school, with a growing waiting list for prospective students. “The community wants it, so we are trying to make it happen.”

However, she continued, enrolling peer students is the school’s No. 1 concern.

“It is a challenge, and probably our primary concern among all the staff members here,” Marceau said. “All the parents who have typical students here want to keep them in the school because of the small class sizes and one-on-one interaction.”

That’s where the open house and fundraiser come in, said Carri Kruenegel, general education associate program manager at North Star. Contributions from a donation tree set up at the event will go toward partial peer scholarships for all classes to offset the roughly $435 monthly tuition per student.

“It’s sort of an all-in-one event. It’s to raise community awareness about literacy and share our love for teaching,” Kruenegel said. “We are really passionate about what we do, and we’d like to share that with as many people in the community as possible.”

While North Star offers a unique teaching environment, Marceau said it’s important to share their teaching philosophies with the community.

“I see it as a community service for our school because there isn’t anything really like it in the area,” she said. “Our main thing is to streamline the students into a typical environment, so that when they do enter the mainstream schools they can be successful and they are not ostracized … Why segment kids for their different abilities? Why not adapt the curriculum instead? The process really works well for these kids.”

Bloem said the school’s all-inclusive approach is a great reminder for how everyone can get along in society, regardless of age or ability.

“I think it’s great. I think what they are providing is certainly an important choice for parents to make in our community,” Bloem said. “I think it teaches a real awareness for special needs and for how we should all function together in life.”

North Star is licensed as a Developmental Disabilities Agency and as a child care facility by the city of Coeur d’Alene. The school is currently enrolling prekindergarten and preschool classes.