VILLAGE OF PROMISE INCORPORATED

Promise preparatory offers early education and development services from birth through pre-k. The program uses a holistic learning approach, with a focus on social-emotional, physical, creative, and cognitive development. The classes offered are infant, toddler 1-2, toddler 2-3, and pre-k4 i and ii. There were 17 participants in the toddler 2-3, 14 participants in pre-k4i and 14 participants in pre-k4ii during the year.

The infant university program is a nine class course that offers education, training, and resourses related to infant, child and mother care, immunizations, safety, health hazards, and other topics relevant to new and/or expectant parents/guardians of children age 0-4. Inaddition, participants gain access to resources available throughout huntsville/madison county to assist with the participants gaining further knowledge regarding health and nutrition, and the importance of raising a happy healthy child who is school ready. Infant university consisted of 9 participants during the year.

The family connections program consist of the family connections program and the next steps program. The family connections program is atwo-generation family literacy program that incorporates the kenan model family literacy components - adult education, parent and child together (pact) time, and parent time - family service learning, family mentoring, adult education, and english as a second language. Technology is also included. This program supports parent awareness and use of interactive literacy activities, civic engagement, parenting technology skills, service learning projects, school engagement, and community awareness. Ultimately, the program aims to develop employability skills, leadership capacity, and social capital of participants. There were 100 families served during the year.

The next steps program is a continuation of the family connections progarm. It provides instruction and coursework for non-high school degreed adults preparing to take the general equivalency diploma (ged) exam, english as second language, adult literacy, and work force development. There were 36 participants for the program during the year.

Freedom school is a program that uses the intergrated reading curriculum (irc) which provides culturally relevant books and hands-on enrichment activities for students. Freedom school had 48 participants during the year.