The Journey School is now allowing 2 ½ through 5-year-olds in Selma to discover more worlds while enlarging their imaginations, for a few more hours each day.

Beginning Sept. 6, the school will have new afternoon hours from 1 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. Journey’s staff wants to assure parents that while they’re away at work, their preschoolers are left in safe hands while they learn.

“We think it’s very important,” said school director Renee Alsobrook. “Other programs go to noon or 1 p.m., and many parents need childcare after 5 p.m. We want to continue the morning preschool program we’ve been running and have quality education in the afternoon program.”

For a whole day, children learn their letters, numbers, handwriting skills, body awareness and spatial knowledge. Alsobrook said the great thing is students do different activities every day to enhance those skills.

We’ll write letters with shaving crème, we might build letters with wood blocks
(we’re) always engaging them and they’re challenged, Alsobrook said. We’re running a typical afternoon preschool program
the community sees it as a need.

Since its inception in 2008, Alsobrook said the school has seen between 75 to 90 students. They’re still recruiting and hope to have at least 16 children this upcoming school year, which begins Sept. 6.

“We’re still trying to offer an environment for typical kids as well as special needs children …  an inclusion environment,” Alsobrook said. “Each child benefits (from) the other and can help the other. They can learn from each other and help each other. We hope to bring in a lot of students to have a successful program and meet a schedule for parents.”

Alsobrook said the school offers affordable tuition for parents who wish to enroll their children for two, three or five days at a time.

“We offer … $150 for five days, $100 for three days and $80 for two days,” Alsobrook said. “We’re offering a flexible schedule for the afternoon program.”

Because space is limited, Alsobrook encourages parents to register as soon as possible.

For information about the school or to register, call 872-1222 or email Alsobrook at thejourneyschool@yahoo.com.