It was wonderful to see all the participation in the Family Explore Event last month at the Gladstone Center for Children & Families! Parents/guardians and their kindergarteners were encouraged to fall in love with literacy by joining in read alouds, literacy activities, letter crafting, word dances and more. All students received two free books to take home from the event.
During GCCF’s Spring Fling on May 8, kindergarten students got to have their faces painted, dance to music on the playground, check out emergency vehicles, talk with firefighters and police officers, plant seeds in the backyard garden, pet the therapy dogs in the lobby, eat cookies and pizza in the cafeteria, get a Clackamas County library card from Gladstone librarians, and meet with the Gladstone School District’s many agency partners based as GCCF. In addition to kindergarten, the GCCF building houses county health and dental clinics, Children's Relief Nursery, Head Start, Gladstone Teaching Preschool, Clackamas Education Service District offices, Lifeworks Northwest and Oregon Department of Human Services staff.
Additionally, GCCF hosted a Connect to Kindergarten event for families with incoming kindergarteners (2025-2026), who joined GCCF staff for an hour of getting to know kindergarten. Families who are interested in participating in kindergarten at GCCF in the upcoming school year still have time to enroll by contacting Heidi Smith at 503-496-3939.