W.B. Ball Early Childhood Center

By: Audrey West

“Preschool is a place where they just learn to color. It’s just Pre-K.”

When speaking to Principal Laura Flack at W.B. Ball Early Childhood Center, she mentioned there was a stigma around the word “Preschool”. Statements like the ones above are often said because individuals hear the word Preschool and they automatically think that the children will just be coloring or performing easy activities. We want to break that stigma by learning more about the W.B. Ball Early Childhood Center and how much effort they put towards helping to develop the students that come through their doors.

Located in Seguin, Tx just off Shannon Avenue, W.B. Ball Early Childhood Center has transformed throughout the years. Beginning as Abraham Lincoln School before integration it was the first school for African- Americans, later on renamed Ball High School in Rev. Dr. Ball’s honor. Over the years it became W.B. Ball Elementary School for kindergarteners through 5th grade, now it is presently the W.B. Ball Early Childhood Center serving the younger students that are in Seguin ISD. The name behind the school came from Reverend Dr. William Baton Ball who was known as an African-American soldier, teacher, school official, and a minister. He helped organize the first school for African-Americans in Guadalupe County and with the association of African-American Baptists he helped found the Negro Baptist College in Seguin. It was renamed the Guadalupe Colored College around 3 years later and he even served as the president for eight years. With all this history present, they continue breaking through the present stigma and offer the best they can for the community.

Uniqueness is what this campus represents from not having the pressures of standardize testing, to becoming a large family with every family that enrolls. They create a welcoming atmosphere throughout the whole school and reach out to help families with anything that they can. Upon my visit to the campus, I was met with open arms and felt very at home. The students range from Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 must meet various requirements in order to attend. They range from qualifying for free reduced lunch to foster care children to speaking a language other than English. The hope for the future is for more funding for a bigger Pre-K center for everyone to be able to attend. Through the art, music, P.E., and family time, they can focus on developing the whole child. However, they have limited resources to work with that allows them to find ingenious ways to create activities. All of the staff have various backgrounds that led them to the campus and state how much they enjoy their job to help the students. They are able to watch the students grow from Pre-K 3 to kindergarten through their goals that will help in their overall development. Principal Laura Flack used to joke with her old Principal at Koennecke Elementary that this would be her school one day because she has always been focused on early child learning. The sooner that they can be able to teach and support the children, the better.

Mrs. Lisa Watts is a social worker that coordinates the volunteers along with other activities. They are constantly searching for volunteers for the Book Fairs, when Hug-A-Bear comes to campus, Field Day, and on a regular day basis. She loves that the parents are eager to be involved as well so, do not be surprised if you see many parent volunteers helping. At the Book Fair, many parents were active in helping the children create their wish lists. After speaking to a few parents, they seemed to all love to school and the opportunities for their child to grow. The parents are very involved in the education of their child and have seen great development of their children. They have all actively seen the improvements of their children while they have been there and claim that they go above and beyond for their children. They are asking for all volunteers that can range from High School to College to Adult volunteers. There are never enough hands to help the staff and even if you could just have simple conversations with the students, you will be helping wonders for their vocabulary. There is an opportunity for Texas Lutheran University students as well to pair with the Center for Servant Leadership to complete a module by working with the Center to work with the students. They have opportunities to go to different classrooms, work on language skills, reading skills, vocabulary skills, and help the students learn through play. They require the students to go through a background check to volunteer as well as be able to commit to continuously come volunteer at the school. The students will get used to seeing the volunteers and wonderful bonds can be created. Mrs. Laura Flack, the principal, states that “the kids are her favorite part of her job, the reason she wakes up every morning, and dreams about how to make the Center better for them”.

Another part of W.B. Ball Early Learning Center, is the Whole Child Learning Center for Seguin ISD. On average there is about 1 in 56 children that are diagnosed with Autism. They received the Texas Education Agency Autism Grant that allowed them to open their doors. Presently, there are about 50 students enrolled in the center. The program provides various special education services that can be either a full day or even a half day. They range from behavior training, speech therapy, motor/sensory activities and community-based instruction lessons to students ages 3-5 that have disabilities. They offer training workshops for families, children, and educators for families ages 6-9. A benefit of this program is that they focus on individual student needs and parent collaboration. They want them to be a part of the learning experience as well in order to be able to understand their child’s disability to be able to help them when they are at home. There is a support system for the parents put in place to help out through the difficult days. A barrier is present, and they are trying to break the barrier in order to get the word out about the WCLC. They are excited that they are the 27th school district to receive Milo, a robot that is used to improve communication and social skills with the children in autism. The WCLC strives to find community partners to partner with including: the Seguin Outdoor Learning Center, the Seguin Autism Support Group, Any Baby Can, and more. Principal Laura Flack is looking forward to the teaching style of the WCLC that will include an inclusionary model that will allow the students to learn from their other peers. The director for the WCLC program Tiffany Pennypacker and her staff stated that “All means All”. Therefore, all children should have resources presented to them to gain the same amount of knowledge and development.

Volunteering at the W.B. Ball Early Childhood Center would be a benefit to people of all backgrounds. If anyone was interested with working with children, wanted to go into education, was interested in psychology, social work, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and more, this is the site for you! There is the ability to place volunteers in P.E., art classes, and even music classes. They are willing to work with you and the teachers at the school as well. The students need positive role models in the community including college kids in order to expose them to the possibility of college in the future. Help be the change in the lives of the next generation.

Contact Information:

Lisa Watts

Email:Lwatts@seguin.k12.tx.us

Phone: 830-401-1281

For more information about the

Whole Child Learning Center

Contact:

Tiffany Pennypacker

Email: Tpennypacker@seguin.k12.tx.us

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Photos By: Cailee Willis