The Family School (TFS), located at 1127 West McDowell, was established 31 years ago by Susan Cedar and Sue Johnson to create a community where parents and children could come together and be valued for who they were.
From the beginning TFS had goals and purposes that were very different from other schools. TFS was designed to provide both neighborhood children and other children in the valley with an integrated, inclusive experience. The school invites any child, aged 2 to 5, to come into a community that values each person for themselves regardless of their strengths and challenges.
Some children come to TFS with behavioral issues or needs that cannot be met at other schools.
Some are autistic or language delayed. Some are gifted and impatient with the pace of learning at other schools.
Some have trouble making friends and do not know how to develop peer relationships.
Teaching at TFS has four goals personalized for each child:
1. To be able to have a friend and be a friend.
2. To be able to manage their bodies.
3. To be able to manage their feelings.
4. To have the confidence to learn important things.
The friend goal is met with the explicit teaching of social skills and classroom coaching. The body goal is met by challenges on the playground, activities, and equipment that help children with balance and movement. The feelings goal includes explicit empathy training, support for anger management, and use of feeling language. The important things are focused on the traditional preschool curriculum including the knowledge of letters and numbers necessary for elementary school readiness. All the children at TFS become part of a learning community of friends. The class sizes are kept small, and the ratio of students is tailored to each classroom. Teachers go out to the playground and sit at the lunch tables. Teaching happens anywhere and everywhere.
TFS directors have mental health and special needs backgrounds with early education expertise. Some children need individual play therapy to get past traumatic experiences. Some parents may need individual counseling. Some students need extra speech or behavior help in the classroom. All are provided with what they need to succeed, and any child who needs additional help in first or second grade has ongoing guidance and support as they move on.
Family events, overnights, parenting classes, music, the kindergarten community unit, and guided block activities have become traditions woven into TFS’s traditions. Challenges and obstacles have been turned into actions for the children and families who have come through the door. Over the years, The Family School is unique and special and so it survives and keeps its commitment to individualization and inclusion and the idea that ‘We are all one Family under one Sky’.
Substantial challenges remain for TFS, chief among them are financial resources. As a nonprofit entity, funds are always needed for scholarships and other programs for the children. Parents and teachers often need financial assistance. Finally, the school occupies historic buildings that are always in need of renovation and repair.
What’s so Special about The Family School?
It’s just a preschool daycare with all the usual challenges and problems?
Not True!
From the beginning The Family School had goals and purposes that other schools do not aspire to. The Family School would attempt to integrate neighborhood children with any other child in the valley whose parents wanted an integrated, inclusive experience for their children in a very residentially segregated city of Phoenix. It would invite any child, with whatever challenges or strengths, to come together into a community that valued each person for themselves. Some children came because they were kicked out of other schools because of behaviors or needs that the schools couldn’t or wouldn’t meet. Some were autistic or language delayed. Some were gifted and impatient with others. Some had trouble making friends, or were left to themselves by others and didn’t know how to assimilate. All were children 2 to 5 years old. All would become part of a learning community of friends, and their parents would receive parenting classes and support. Some children would need individual play therapy to get past traumatic experiences. Some parents would need individual counseling. Some would get extra speech or behavior help in the classroom. All would be provided with what they needed to succeed, and any child who needed help in first or second grade could get ongoing guidance and support as they moved on.
The Family School Bag Brigade
The Family School Bag Brigade is a group of neighborhood volunteers who support this well-regarded school on McDowell Road.
Our mission: To provide food bags to support some of the food-insecure families whose children attend the school and could use some help to keep tummies full over the weekends.
We shop for shelf stable foods and fresh produce on a weekly schedule and bring the bounty to the school to fill bags for what is now seven families.
The Family School serves children from pre-school through kindergarten and attracts families of all demographics and ZIP codes.
The brigade has grown from an initial group of two people to our current roster of more than a dozen volunteers. We are delighted that most of our numbers come from the F.Q. Story neighborhood.
Some of our members have expanded our reach over the years. One of the “bag people” has started hosting annual cereal drives at her home, gathering enough donations to keep the school’s pantry stocked for nearly a full year. Another member is organizing a raffle at the neighborhood’s annual home tour to raise money for other school necessities. They also host a can drive at the Home Tour, as well.
To find out more about them and how you can help, visit their website: https://www.tfsphx.org
