News Archives - The Children's Guild

The Children’s Guild Partners With Charm City Run

Students from the The Academy, our therapeutic group-living program, who reside in our Staffa House for girls had the opportunity last weekend to select their perfect athletic shoes and a pair of athletic socks with a motivational message on them.

Big thanks to Charm City Run for helping our students find the perfect fit and donated several running shirts and sports bras for our girls with the promise of more in the near future! The Children’s Guild Alliance staff also made monetary contributions to help make this a reality. Another example of putting Kids First!

Monarch Preschool College Park to Open Next Year in College Park

Kristin B. Taylor named preschool director

Monarch Preschool College Park, founded by The Children’s Guild Alliance, will open in February 2020 and serve 120 children ages 3 to 5. The school 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 open year-round with a full-day program to include before- and after-school care.

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

“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.”

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 director of Heritage Learning Center in Hyattsville. She also is an advisor to Maryland State Department of Education’s Ready at Five program, 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.

“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 monarchpreschool.com or email [email protected].

Monarch Preschool College Park, an affiliate member of The Children’s Guild Alliance, a nonprofit organization serving children, families and child-serving organizations, will be a year-round full-day preschool program serving 120 children ages 3 to 5. (monarchpreschool.com)

Steve Wozniak’s Woz U and TranZed Apprenticeships announce partnership to develop world-class apprenticeships

Steve Wozniak’s Education-as-a-Service Company, Woz U, is joining forces with Maryland-based TranZed Apprenticeships to develop world-class apprenticeships to meet in demand jobs, like cybersecurity, data science, and mobile and web development. The dynamic “Modern Apprenticeship” partnership launched ahead of Wozniak’s two-day tech summit, DesTechAZ 2019, provides robust and relevant content to effectively prepare the talent of tomorrow, today.

“Getting a technical education is the best investment you can make. Period. Nowadays, there’s all this new technology that we can use to solve the world’s problems and not enough people to do it,” said Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Woz U.

The economy is experiencing a golden age, boasting record expansion and record low unemployment rates; however growth is being hampered by an urgent need for a skilled, tech-savvy workforce. In a 2018 Hays survey, 73 percent of employers reported a skills shortage, and 92 percent said the shortage is negatively affecting their business.

“Employers can’t find skilled workers, and millions of job openings remain unfilled. The talent simply isn’t there yet, especially in technical and computer-related fields,” said Paul Champion, President of TranZed Apprenticeships. “The answer is TranZed ‘Modern Apprenticeships’, where workers learn on the job while earning an income. We’re excited to develop these opportunities in partnership with Woz U.”

As a result, Woz U’s Education-as-a-Service platform, paired with TranZed’s “Modern Apprenticeship” approach, brings an ecosystem of over 2,000 hours of content which can be customized based on industry demands. A “Modern Apprenticeship” is a work-based training program aimed at preparing individuals of any age to meet sophisticated talent needs.

“Most of the Woz U modules taught are “from scratch,” which means even individuals without previous industry knowledge can become career-ready in a short period of time,” said Jacob Mayhew, CEO of Woz U. “Additionally, we update our content on a bi-weekly basis to ensure individuals enrolled in all Woz U programs are trained to address the rapidly changing needs of the technology labor market.”

Key components of the “Modern Apprenticeship” partnership include:

· Customized, supervised and paid on-the-job training, wages graduated in-step with skills gained during training

· Related classroom instruction on or off-site

· Formalized mentoring and coaching

· Nationally recognized industry credentials or specialized technical certification earned for demonstrating the achievement of workplace competencies

· Optional college credit leading to an associate or bachelor’s degree

For media inquiries please email Ana Pereira at [email protected] and to learn more about the Modern Apprenticeships visit tranzedapprenticeships.com.

About Woz U

Woz U is an EdTech enterprise that is revolutionizing education and training by providing organizations affordable technology curricula and training to offer students and employees. Our vision is to disrupt the current education and training model and creating and powering a new learning ecosystem to elevate human capital in technical careers. With the ultimate disrupter Steve “Woz” Wozniak as our co-founder and namesake, our unique Education-as-a-Service business model is designed to help governments, schools and businesses sustain their ever-changing technical skill gaps and talent demands. Learn more at woz-u.com.

About TranZed Apprenticeships

TranZed Apprenticeships, an affiliate of The Children’s Guild Alliance, works to advance modern apprenticeships throughout the U.S. and offers apprenticeship programs in the Mid-Atlantic developed to address the need for alternative career paths. Apprenticeships combine on-the-job, competency and project-based training with job-related classroom instruction. They offer an earn-and-learn model where apprentices earn money starting their first day and receive pay increases as they gain additional skills and master their occupations.

The Children’s Guild Partners with Charm City Run

Students from the The Academy, our therapeutic group-living program, who reside in our Staffa House for girls had the opportunity last weekend to select their perfect athletic shoes and a pair of athletic socks with a motivational message on them.

Big thanks to Charm City Run for helping our students find the perfect fit and donated several running shirts and sports bras for our girls with the promise of more in the near future! The Children’s Guild Alliance staff also made monetary contributions to help make this a reality. Another example of putting Kids First!

Upcoming Open Houses at Monarch Academy Schools in Anne Arundel County on Oct. 22 and Nov. 19

Monarch Academy Annapolis, Monarch Academy Glen Burnie and Monarch Global Academy Laurel will hold open houses on Tuesdays, Oct. 22 and Nov. 19, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. concurrently at each school. All three Monarch Academy schools are charter or contract schools within Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

“Monarch Academy schools offer students a unique educational experience which leverages innovative learning approaches within a transformational school culture,” said Kathy Lane, chief of educational services for Monarch Academy. “We invite families to our open houses to see firsthand our beautiful school buildings and meet our highly skilled teachers and staff.”

Monarch Academy Annapolis, located at 2000 Capital Drive in Annapolis, offers students an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, which challenges them to think critically and take responsibility for their learning as they explore local and global issues. The school is open to students who live in the city of Annapolis entering kindergarten through fifth grade in the fall of 2020. For more information, call 410-934-1444 or email [email protected].

Monarch Academy Glen Burnie, located at 6730 Baymeadow Drive in Glen Burnie, offers students expeditionary learning, which emphasizes high achievement through active learning, character growth and teamwork. The school is open to all Anne Arundel County students entering kindergarten through eighth grade in the fall of 2020. For more information, call 410-760-2072 or email [email protected].

Monarch Global Academy Laurel, located at 430 Brock Bridge Road in Laurel, also offers students an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. The school is open to all students entering kindergarten through eighth grade in the fall of 2020 and who live in the Brock Bridge, Maryland City and Jessup elementary schools attendance boundaries. For more information, call 301-886-8648 or email [email protected].

Families may apply to Monarch Academy schools for the 2020-2021 school year through the Anne Arundel County Public Schools lottery from Oct. 14 to Nov. 26. The school system will hold the lottery in mid-January.

Monarch Academy charter and contract schools are affiliate members of The Children’s Guild Alliance, a nonprofit organization serving children, families and child-serving organizations and dedicated to transforming how America educates and cares for its children through education, behavioral health and national training and consultation services. Affiliates of The Children’s Guild Alliance include The Children’s Guild, The Academy for Working Students (TAWS), TranZed Apprenticeships, The Children’s Guild DC Public Charter School, Transformation Education Institute, National At-Risk Education Network (NAREN), Conference Center at The Children’s Guild Alliance and The National Children’s Guild Fund. (www.childrensguild.org)