All Ages Read Together is now enrolling for new classes beginning September 2021 in Alexandria, Herndon, Leesburg, and Sterling! All classes will follow CDC guidelines and masks will be required for everyone.
AART is designed for children who fall in the gap between those who qualify for publicly funded programs, such as Head Start, and those families who cannot afford preschool.
This program will help get your child ready for kindergarten and is completely free. Children must be 4 or 5-years old and not enrolled in any other preschool program, Head Start, Step, or PreK.
Complete our interest form today to connect with an assistant!
Have you ever wondered what goes on inside an AART classroom? I had the pleasure of following along with an AART summer class in Leesburg, where I joined students during a fun-filled day of learning and play. I talked with our dedicated teachers and volunteers about what they do during a typical day of teaching, how their lessons and activities benefit students, and why they teach with AART. It’s in the middle of a busy classroom where the magic of learning creates lasting bonds between teachers and students, and it was amazing to see those relationships being made through fun and easy classroom activities.
The day began with students lining up outside upon arriving at our Leesburg classroom location. They waved goodbye to mom and dad, ready for another day of learning with their friends. Our students then put away their backpacks once they entered the classroom and joined each other on the carpet for Circle time to go over the classroom rules and welcome a couple of new friends to their class.Â
They sang a song together to introduce each other and the teachers to the rest of the class and reviewed what they were going to do during class today. Circle time continued with a story- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Our teachers gave each student their own copy of the book, and the class settled in to read the story together, following along with the teacher as they turned the page. The book was read in both English and Spanish so that all of our students could enjoy the story in the language they were most familiar with. Color recognition skills were practiced while reading, as well, since the book focuses heavily on identifying different brightly-colored animals as the story progresses.
Summer students receiving a copy of the book to take home for their collection.
To close “Circle” time, each student placed their new books in their backpacks, to take home and read on their own.
Next on the agenda were Centers, where students were divided up between multiple different activities and rotated through each one in turn. Today’s centers helped build shape recognition skills, encouraged creative play, and had students practice writing their names.Â
The first Centers activity involved drawing a self-portrait and signing your name on it upon completion. Students were given drawing tools and were encouraged to let their artistic skills and imagination shine.Â
The second Centers activity instructed students to mold Play-Doh into different shapes. Students were encouraged to use tools to help them craft their shapes and to identify their shapes upon completion of the activity.Â
In the final Centers activity, students were provided worksheets that prompted them to practice drawing certain shapes. Given markers, crayons, and other drawing tools, the students diligently worked at perfecting their triangles, squares, semi-circles, and stars!
After the students finished their Centers activities, the class took a break to have a quick snack. Students lined up to wash their hands and grab their water bottles, then went to find a seat beside their friends. Our students sipped their water, munched on their pretzels, and chatted about the day’s activities during a much-needed moment of rest.
With the end of class insight, our students and teachers regrouped for Closing Circle. The teachers shared our students’ self-portraits that they had drawn earlier, stopping to discuss what each student included in their drawing. We were so impressed with their creativity, and everyone enjoyed getting to share their work with the class!
Lastly, it was time to wrap up another great day of preschool with stickers for a hard day’s work. After receiving their sticker, each student retrieved their backpacks and lined up to leave the classroom. With tired eyes and smiling faces, each student left the classroom to meet an eagerly waiting parent outside.Â
Why AART
Our teachers for our AART summer class in Leesburg, Ms. Shelley and Ms. Giselle, are long-time teachers in the Northern Virginia area. Ms. Shelley has been a preschool teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools for many years, and Ms. Giselle has been a substitute teacher for both primary and secondary level classrooms in Loudoun County Public Schools for around 20 years. They love to teach and are dedicated to the well-being of their students. Teaching at AART has been a great experience for both Ms. Shelley and Ms. Giselle, who are teaching for the first time in our program this summer. They love seeing their students succeed in the classroom and enjoy the fulfillment that comes with a career in education!
Learning with the students in an AART summer class reaffirms the importance of easily accessible preschool programs. Experiencing the joy of learning in a fun, engaging, and age-appropriate environment- with dedicated teachers and diligent volunteers- is a great reminder of the lasting impact of quality early childhood education. AART students will take the lessons, relationships, and memories earned in their preschool class with them throughout their careers as students and into life beyond the classroom. AART thanks its teachers, volunteers, donors, and sponsors for making our summer programs possible!
Interested in learning about our program? Read more here.
All Ages Read Together is now enrolling preschool readiness classes for rising kindergarteners who have no preschool experience. This is specifically for families located in Leesburg or Sterling.
Priority will be given to students entering kindergarten in Fall 2021 at Sugarland, Sterling, and Leesburg Elementary.Â
When: June 29th – July 29th Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Time: Morning or Afternoon, 2 hours each class
Please fill out our interest form to be contacted by one of our teachers. This program will help to get your child ready for kindergarten.
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¡Todas las Edades Leen Juntas (All Ages Read Together: “AART”) ahora está inscribiendo clases de preparaciĂłn preescolar para los estudiantes de kindergarten en ascenso que no tienen experiencia preescolar. Esto es especĂficamente para familias ubicadas en Leesburg o Sterling.
Se dará prioridad a los estudiantes que ingresen al jardĂn de infantes en el otoño de 2021 en las escuelas primarias Sugarland, Sterling y Leesburg.
The Dulles Greenway is hosting its inaugural Run the Greenway Race on May 1, 2021. This family-friendly event provides a socially distant convening opportunity and fundraising vehicle for All Ages Read Together and other participating Loudoun County, Virginia organizations.
AART has registered a growing team of runners and walkers to join our team! You can join us by going to http://bit.ly/jointeamaart!
“AART is absolutely thrilled to be invited to participate in this inaugural event,” said AART Executive Director, Michelle Sullivan. “100% of the donations raised will go directly to our summer classes in Loudoun County, which is truly the last chance for children entering kindergarten to be prepared and ready to succeed. We are looking forward to seeing everyone who is walking or running for Team AART!”
The Run the Greenway race will start and finish at the Dulles Greenway’s Mainline Toll Plaza. Runners and walkers can choose a 5K or 10K distance, there will also be an 800-meter Kids Fun Run and a virtual race option. Race participants will join their community in celebrating the Dulles Greenway’s 25th anniversary of connecting Loudoun County to the Washington Metropolitan region.
Whether you are a walker or runner, here in the DMV or virtual, you can support AART by joining our team https://bit.ly/jointeamaart.
Every registration includes a Run the Greenway race shirt and a fundraising page where runners can raise funds for the local charity of their choice.Â
For more information about Run the Greenway, please visit https://bit.ly/jointeamaart or contact AART info at allagesreadtogether.org.
AART was on Local DVM and our new outdoor classes were featured as part of their #somethinggood segment! The reporter experienced the magic of our classes firsthand and interviewed some of our board and staff!
As we begin the preparations for restarting our in-person classes, we are putting together a series of health protocols to help keep our teaching staff, volunteers, and students safe.
Everyone in the classroom will be required to wear a mask, which brings a new set of challenges for our young learners.
“Being able to see the mouth is critical for early learners” shared Michelle Sullivan, Executive Director. “They need to see the shape our lips make when we speak sounds so they know the shape to make when they are speaking. We have been on the hunt for a creative solution and found a mask that was originally designed for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, which has see-through plastic around the mouth!”
AART is reaching out to our community to see if you may be interested in helping us by either creating the masks (we will provide the pattern) or donating to the materials fund.
You will be helping the littlest members in your community continue their learning in a safe environment!
Our very own Julie Brunson, Program Director, and Lara Major, Board Vice Chair, Class Sponsor, and Volunteer, are featured in a brand new video podcast called Speaking of Reading.
Speaking of Reading shares and promotes the benefits of reading to young children from infancy. Each video will share practical tips to engage young readers, ways to incorporate learning into everyday activities, and age-appropriate books to start reading to your children.
Reading fluency is one of the markers used to evaluate the likelihood of a child graduating from high school. If a child is not reading a basic level by the 3rd grade, they are 6-times more likely to not graduate.
Julie stated “I am excited to be a part of this amazing program and share the knowledge I have acquired in the classroom and through raising my three kids.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a humbling experience for our organization. We have had to shift and adapt our program in the span of just a few short weeks – something that is not easy in the best of times.
AART’s educational model focuses on individualized learning – meeting students where they are. We do not use a standard curriculum, but we do have metrics that we measure improvement in key areas. This allows teachers to vary their teaching styles to better address the needs of their students, while still focusing on developing language/literacy, social classroom behavior, cognitive, and fine motor skills.
AART student practicing writing at home.
We are very focused on preserving the integrity of our program or “walking in our purpose”, while at the same time adapting to meet our new reality. This is a delicate balance that takes a team effort and I believe we have been extremely successful because of the creativity, support, and dedication of our entire teaching staff working with one purpose in mind – to educate each of our students to the best of their abilities in the home environment.
It has been one month since we suspended our in-person classes and a number of lessons have been learned from this pandemic. Today, I wanted to share with you the biggest lesson we’ve learned thus far: being responsive and agile is key to early success.
Staff creating packets for students.
On March 12th, we suspended our classes in accordance with the cancellation of instruction at Loudoun County Public Schools. The very next day, our team was assembling academic activity packets for our students to continue learning at home.
Since that day, our teaching team has been employing technology solutions to connect with their students to continue the learning at home. You can see some of the fantastic examples in this post of what teachers are doing – everything from reading to their students to find creative ways to teach them about the five senses.
The success of our program is built on trust and establishing solid relationships with the children and families early on. Our students connect deeply with their classmates, teaching staff, and volunteers within the first few weeks of class. Because of these personal connections, the students are building their social and emotional skills as well as gaining a sense of independence and familiarity with a structured classroom environment.
Student showing the drawing he completed.
Since this foundation was well-established with the current 2019-2020 class of students, the shift to a virtual, flexible model was much easier than we assumed. For our team, the agility came in the form of technology challenges with a digital divide experienced by most of our AART families. First, our teachers needed to establish that families had internet and wifi connectivity and second, they needed to confirm the students would have access to a device to access digital material. Once that was established, it was determined that almost all students would be using a borrowed cell phone for any digital connection to the teachers.
Teacher assistant demonstrating the sense of smell.
What proved to be successful was how the staff used this knowledge to reach our students. They piloted the use of apps that families could download and use for free, including Marco Polo and WhatsApp, to watch and create videos with their teacher. The teachers also discovered that most students do not have their own learning space equipped with supplies and resources to successfully work from home. This information was power and inspired creativity and thought.
So what does all this mean for our program moving forward? At this time, we are continuing to monitor the situation and have some tough decisions ahead. We intend to complete our current 2019-2020 school year program virtually, which means our students will not have their in-person graduation. As for our in-person summer classes – we must consider our students, staff, and volunteer’s health while at the same time balancing the feasibility of opening classes in our schools or
community centers.
We know we need to take our lessons learned to finetune our program to respond to the anticipated need we expect to see in our 2020-2021 program as a second wave of job loss is currently unfolding in the United States. For now, all of us at AART will #KeepLearning as #COVIDCantStopGood.
Watch Ms. Sally read The Family Book by Todd Parr to her students.
The Dulles Greenway is hosting its inaugural Run the Greenway Race on May 1, 2021. This family-friendly event provides a socially distant convening opportunity and fundraising vehicle for All Ages Read Together and other participating Loudoun County, Virginia organizations.
AART has registered a growing team of runners and walkers to join our team! You can join us by going to http://bit.ly/jointeamaart!
“AART is absolutely thrilled to be invited to participate in this inaugural event,” said AART Executive Director, Michelle Sullivan. “100% of the donations raised will go directly to our summer classes in Loudoun County, which is truly the last chance for children entering kindergarten to be prepared and ready to succeed. We are looking forward to seeing everyone who is walking or running for Team AART!”
The Run the Greenway race will start and finish at Dulles Greenway’s Mainline Toll Plaza. Runners and walkers can choose a 5K or 10K distance, there will also be an 800-meter Kids Fun Run and a virtual race option. Race participants will join their community in celebrating the Dulles Greenway’s 25th anniversary of connecting Loudoun County to the Washington Metropolitan region.
Whether you are a walker or runner, here in the DMV or virtual, you can support AART by joining our team https://bit.ly/jointeamaart.
Every registration includes a Run the Greenway race shirt and a fundraising page where runners can raise funds for the local charity of their choice.
For more information about Run the Greenway, please visit https://bit.ly/jointeamaart or contact AART info at allagesreadtogether.org.
Save the Date for our 9th Annual Horseshoe Hoedown on October 26th, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. This year we’ll have a Halloween theme and family friendly fun for all!
Golfers teed up at Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club on May 9th in a tournament to benefit All Ages Read Together (AART). The tournament was the inspiration of AART board member Peter Knapp, who remarked, “Eight years ago we decided to have a golf tournament and, now, it has become an annual tradition. This year we raised over $15,000 for AART and we are grateful to everyone who participated for making it such a huge success.”
AART thanks all the 2019 sponsors, with specific recognition for Michael Capretti and Capretti Land, our exclusive Green Jacket sponsor, and Championship sponsors, Pactolus Private Wealth Management, 100WomenStrong, and The Peter Knapp Realty Group. These sponsorships provide the foundation for this golf tournament and drive golf revenue. AART’s Board Chair, Tamar Datan, noted, “We are so grateful to the devoted sponsors, players, and organizers of this very special event. Together, they have helped us raise funding to contribute towards one of our school year classes!”
This funding is critical as AART is the only organization that fills the gap for children who do not qualify for publicly funded programs, like Head Start, and whose families cannot afford private preschool. These children would fall behind in the current education system without AART’s help. One in five children in Northern Virginia begins kindergarten every year without any preschool exposure, leaving them an average of 20 months behind their peers.
Mark your calendars for another signature fundraiser for AART, the annual AART Horseshoe Hoedown. This year’s hoedown is on Saturday, October 26th and will include BBQ, live music and dancing, mechanical bull rides, horseshoe and corn hole tournaments, many artisan vendors, and children’s activities such as a bounce house and pumpkin decorating.
Please join us for our 8th annual golf tournament raising funds for our preschool programs.
Registration is open.
The tournament will again be held at Raspberry Falls Golf & Hunt Club, Thursday, May 9.
All food, drinks, and snacks are included with the registration green fee of $150.00.
You don’t have to be able to golf to participate. You can donate your time, sponsor a hole or green, donate a silent auction item, or goodie bag items.
All Ages Read Together (AART) kicked off the 2019 AART Read-A-Thon at Cascades Library on Thursday, February 14 with Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall, Supervisor Suzanne Volpe, and Supervisor Koran Saines as well as Loudoun County Library Director Chang Liu. Area leaders read to children who attend the Cascades Library AART class.
The Read-A-Thon is designed to raise funds for AART, which is dedicated to preparing young children for success in school by teaching them the skills they will need in kindergarten and beyond while cultivating an early love of reading and learning. AART fills the gap in the community by providing these classes to children who do not qualify for publicly funded programs yet come from low-income working families. There were 874 children who began kindergarten this school year in Loudoun County without any preschool experience. These children are approximately 20 months behind their peers. In our region, a family of four that earns $70,000 or less qualifies for affordable housing yet they do not all qualify for publicly funded preschool. AART has served hundreds of children in Loudoun and Fairfax counties since its inception in 2007.
Chair Phyllis Randall spearheaded a book drive with 50 faith leaders to coincide with the Read-A-Thon to collect books and monetary donations for AART classes. AART Executive Director, Michelle Sullivan said, “AART appreciates this outpouring of support and is so grateful for the impact it will directly have on the children.”
Exciting news! July’s WTOP Charity of the Month/Federal News Radio Community Spotlight is reserved for All Ages Read Together! This promotion will give us unparalleled visibility across the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.
AART is proud to have been chosen by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce as an Outstanding Corporate Citizenship Awards nominee in the nonprofit category. The Northern Virginia Chamber’s Outstanding Corporate Citizenship Awards honor individuals, businesses and non-profits for above-and-beyond business leadership, employee engagement, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
AART’s management staff attended the award ceremony on June 13th.
“We are honored to have our work recognized and be nominated for this prestigious #CorpCitizenshipAwards.”
AART graduations are a special time of year, an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our students. Some of our students first arrive at our classes quiet, some struggling to leave their parents or with limited English skills. They also arrive with shy smiles and are eager to learn. One of our parents recently shared that her daughter started AART class speaking not a word of English and now she converses fluently and comfortably in English in and outside of the classroom. Her teachers observed her growing by leaps and bounds. By spring she was a confident and enthusiastic learner who emerged as a leader in the class. Our volunteers share in the excitement, awed by the growth of our students and their newfound confidence.
Graduation celebrations begin with students arriving in their best outfits and parents carrying platters of ethnic cuisine to share. Teachers share what the students have learned, classes sing songs and certificates of achievement are handed out. Proud parents snap photos of their preschool graduate and then the celebratory meal begins!
Summers are challenging for our students as they do not have access to the classroom structure and academics provided by AART classes. We’d like to obtain funding for additional AART classes to continue learning and preparation not only in the summer, but also in our school year programs.
“This year at every graduation I attended, parents approached me to thank me for the opportunity for their children and how much they appreciated how the program prepared their children for school.”
