City Gate

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City Gate is an urban ministry in Washington, DC, seeking to open doors of opportunity, empowerment, and friendship. Our primary focus is on children and youth in the city and on internationals. We welcome the participation and support of all who want to serve and share in building a community of inclusion and hope.

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• Caterpillar Preschool
• After-school Program
• Summer Day Camp
• English as a Second Language (ESL)

Caterpillar Preschool

A Multi-cultural Language School for Children

The Caterpillar Preschool has evolved from several successful programs for young children hosted at Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church at Tenley Circle in upper Northwest DC. These programs have included language immersion classes by CommuniKids, summer day camps which offered Spanish and French, and a small cooperative preschool known as the Caterpillar "Co-op." The Co-op began as a parent-directed, play-based informal activity. When it began to develop into a more structured Spanish immersion program, Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church applied to the Board of Zoning Adjustment in 2007 for the necessary zoning approval for an organized child development center. The application was approved in 2008, and an expanded program (including French immersion as well as the existing co-op Spanish classes) was licensed by the Office of the State Secretary of Education in 2009.

Currently the Caterpillar Preschool includes a full immersion program in the French language for 2 ½ to 5 year olds. The class is taught by a highly-experienced, native French teacher with an assistant and employs a fun, play-based and full immersion curriculum in a foreign language for preschool-aged children.

A new Spanish immersion class for 2 ½ to 5 year olds began this spring, meeting Mondays and Thursdays, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. The class is led by a native Spanish speaker from Mexico, co-teaching with our multi-lingual preschool director (Spanish, French, Arabic). The class utilizes a play-based, full immersion curriculum, and will be expanded in the fall.

The Spanish immersion program as a whole is changing at the end of the current year. The existing co-op program will close this June. While parent involvement will still be welcomed, there will no longer be a structured co-oping option.

Our class sizes are small and have multiple ages in them. This allows for more individual teacher attention, and for the older children to help younger children, giving everyone a learning responsibility in the classroom.

• Download the Caterpillar Preschool Brochure

2009-2010 School Calendar

Month	Day	Event
September	10	First Day of Class
	21	No Class — Rosh Hashanah
	28	No Class — Yom Kippur
October	12	No Class — Columbus Day
November	26–27	No Class — Thanksgiving
December	18	No Class — Christmas Vacation begins (through January 1)
January	18	No Class — Martin L. King, Jr. Day
February	15	No Class — Presidents' Day
March	29–31	No Class — Spring Break
April	1–7	No Class — Spring Break
May	31	No Class — Memorial Day
June	12	Last day of Class

Important dates for 2010-2011

• September 7 — First day of school
• June 10 — Last day of school

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Why should my child learn a second language when they are so young?

The brain is able to learn a new language most efficiently in early childhood. Experts agree that the earlier a child is exposed to and begins to learn a new language the better. In infancy, even short periods of interpersonal exposure to a new language can make a big impact on brain development.

Those that have studied another language; score higher on standardized tests in math and reading, have increased creativity, mental flexibility and better listening skills. Bilinguals have lower rates of dementia.

Researchers have discovered that children who learn a world language outside of their native tongue have a multitude of cognitive benefits. On standardized tests in reading, language arts and mathematics, they outscored those who had not studied a foreign language. SAT scores were significantly higher in both the verbal and math sections. These scores also increased in correlation with the increase in the number of years the foreign language was studied. Children that have studied a foreign language have enhanced listening skills and memory, greater cognitive development in areas of creativity, divergent thinking and higher order thinking skills, and mental flexibility. Moreover, they advance more rapidly in these cognitive abilities. Children that have studied a foreign language also are more open to and have a greater appreciation of other cultures. Additionally, these children have improved self-concept and sense of achievement.

Lifelong Benefits!

• Occupational options increase with the addition of second and third language skills.
• Learning another language promotes an understanding and appreciation of the arts, sciences, literature and other aspects of a culture.
• Learning another language allows for a deeper pleasure of travel to countries that speak that language.
• Learning another language provides for the ability to communicate with an entire group of people that you would otherwise not be able to.

Philosophy

The children are in a total immersion classroom and our curriculum is play based. Our goals are to provide a nurturing environment and make learning a language fun! All of our teachers are native speakers and have teaching qualifications and experience. The teachers interact with the children only in the target language except in emergency situations, or in the case of certain behavioral issues, English will be spoken. However for the inappropriate behaviors, the teachers will speak English to the children and afterward the target language.

A child's day may include art, crafts, music and singing, stories, active outdoor play, and many other enjoyable and creative activities. Our goal is to make learning French or Spanish exciting and fun, allowing children to learn through play, not noticing that they are learning a (new) language.

Our classes are small so we can offer individual attention. Our classes have multiple ages giving everyone in the classroom a responsibility to learn and help teach the others.

Our goal is to give education opportunities to all children, which is why we offer a strong immersion program at an affordable cost. If some families are unable to pay the tuition, scholarships are available.