FHS holds ribbon-cutting ceremony for new preschool run by student teachers

On Thursday, Sept. 8, Friendswood High School (FHS) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially celebrate finishing construction for the Little Mustang Preschool (LMP) which will open its doors to 15 preschoolers on Oct. 4. LMP is a laboratory early childhood classroom in which FHS juniors and seniors in the Education and Training Ready, Set, Teach Program (RST) plan, prepare and teach developmentally appropriate lessons.

There will be 16 high school student-teachers, divided into two shifts, who will be running LMP with the guidance of RST teacher Brooke Holtvluwer. Class will be from 9 am to 12 pm Tuesday through Friday and each week, there will be one lead teacher and one student teacher who will be responsible for planning the activities while the other student teachers will help with one-on-one instruction, prepare snacks, plan future lessons, run drop off and pick up, etc.

After many months of construction, the preschool now has its own spacious, completely renovated classroom, newly constructed playground and its own entrance/exit into the building, making it a fun, safe learning environment for all students.

“It is exciting to see all the work come together,” Holtvluwer said. “I know the first day will be a mix of emotions for my students, the preschoolers and myself, but I am so excited to be able to watch firsthand the learning that will be taking place in this preschool.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony signified the completion of more than a year of planning and hard work to bring Holtvluwer’s ambitious idea to life.

“We wanted to bring together the people that were instrumental in making this big dream happen for our Ready, Set, Teach students,” Executive Director of Career & Technical Education Susan Kirkpatrick said. “We are celebrating the work that went into this opening - from the Education Foundation to FISD and FHS administration to Maintenance to Tech Services and the Business office. None of this would have become a reality without their commitment and dedication to our program.”

To learn more about the program and teachers, visit www.myfisd.com/parents-and-students/lmp.

Ribbon Cutting Photos