A Capital Region BOCES program that prepares future educators and childcare workers is preparing to launch in Schoharie County in September.
The Capital Region BOCES Center Early Childhood Education program will open in September in the Elementary School with teacher Jessica Quackenbush at the helm.
The program has been offered since September 2022 at the Career and Technical Education Center, Albany Campus; this is the first it’s being offered in Schoharie Campus.
“I am excited,” said Quackenbush, who has taught the program in Albany for the last two years. “There is a real need and I am excited to expand this program.”
The program teaches high school juniors and seniors the basics and methodology of child development and early childhood education while also giving them a solid foundation in classroom arrangement and management.
Students also learn curriculum development for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and young children, as well as how to communicate and work with parents/guardians and staff in an education setting.
Quackenbush said she has eight juniors and two seniors currently enrolled in the program and there is room for growth.
Career and Technical Education Director Jeff Palmer said there has been a tremendous interest among education leaders in offering the program in the Schoharie area; Schoharie Elementary School provides an excellent setting because it has not only elementary students, but a pre-K program.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with the Schoharie schools and offer this program to the entire region,” said Palmer. “BOCES is all about collaboration and building the workforce of tomorrow and this is exactly what the expansion of this program is doing.”
When the program was announced earlier this year, Schoharie Central School District Superintendent Dave Blanchard said he was pleased with the new program offering in the county.
“The Schoharie Central School District is excited to work closely with BOCES to provide this opportunity for our students. We see this as a great way to build interest in employment opportunities in schools. The Early Childhood program allows our district to meet the needs of students as they transition into the workforce. The possible enhancement to our workforce at the same time is a secondary benefit to the district,” he said.