PHEBE ANNA THORNE SCHOOL TO ADD KINDERGARTEN

Thorne Kindergarten Center at Haverford College

Bryn Mawr College will expand its preschool program at the Phebe Anna Thorne School (PAT) by adding two kindergarten classes for the 2004-05 academic year, announced Professor and Chair of Psychology Leslie Rescorla, director of the Thorne School's Early Childhood Program and psychological consultant to PAT. The kindergarten classes, said Rescorla, will be located in a renovated building on College Circle across from the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center on the campus of Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford.

To help raise the funds needed to renovate the building, PAT has started a Kindergarten Campaign. Community members are encouraged to contact Marilyn Motto Henkelmen, director of PAT, at (610) 526-7913 for information about the campaign and how to donate. Those interested in finding out more about enrolling a child in the fall kindergarten classes can also call Henkelmen for an information packet.

Two benefit performances, including one especially for children, will also raise funds (see related story).

PAT offers a child-oriented program that aims to help children gain a sense of competence and well-being with a group through play, problem solving and social interaction. It serves three-to-five-year-old children in both a traditional nursery school program and a language-enrichment program for preschoolers with special needs, and is located in West House on the Bryn Mawr College campus. Graduate and undergraduate students work as classroom assistants at the school.

"We were fortunate to locate an old 1860s-era farmhouse on the Haverford campus that was vacant and for which there were no immediate plans. Through work with Haverford College President Tom Tritton and others at the Haverford campus, we were able to agree on renovations and a long-term-use plan for the building," explained Rescorla.

The PAT expansion, said Rescorla, is an example of Bi-college collaboration between Bryn Mawr and Haverford that will offer extended learning opportunities for students at both campuses. Some Haverford students work at Bryn Mawr's Thorne programs, but Rescorla said the new PAT school at Haverford will make it easier for Haverford students to work with children.

The renovations to the house will create two classroom spaces on each floor, in addition to bathrooms, a small kitchen and an office. The second-floor classroom, to be used for the language-enrichment program, will include a loft treehouse for quiet activities for the children. The facility will include both an indoor play room and a playground that will be open for use by the community during non-school hours.

Architects for the project are Brawer and Hauptman in Philadelphia. The renovations and two-story addition, which began in 2003, are expected to be completed by mid-summer. The renovation will retain the historic exterior of the old farmhouse, with a new interior tailored to the needs of the children.

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