CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Day care center graduates 1st class Melrose Avenue child care center graduates first class

Roanoke Times - 6/2/2018

Nearly three years after the Northwest Child Development Center was shuttered, five preschool-age children marched through the church on Melrose Avenue to the sound of "Pomp and Circumstance" once again.

The rising kindergartners are the first class to graduate from the Melrose Adventist Child Development Center. The nonprofit opened the new center last September as an arm of the Melrose Avenue Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

The church, located across the street from the child care facility, bought the former child care center in 2016, a year after it closed suddenly following a loss of several grants. The next several months were spent renovating and making repairs to the building. Pastor Shaun Arthur said the church's plan when it made the purchase was to reboot the center and enhance the church's education mission.

The center offers classes designed to improve school readiness through activities in STEAM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. Hot daily meals are also offered to all children enrolled at the center.

The center's first year of operation has been "excellent," so far, said director Angela Williams, who previously headed an afterschool program in the Roanoke school system.

Since September, a total of 60 children enrolled in programs at the Melrose Adventist Child Development Center, she said. Some of them took part in the graduation ceremony, showcasing what they'd learned in class. Toddlers recited the alphabet. Others sang in English, counted in Spanish and communicated in sign language.

Family members of the graduates - Akereon Adams, Mariah Preston-Edwards, Caleb Arthur, Linzy Barber Jr. and Jemar Johnson Jr. - took pictures and video of the ceremony.

Community leaders also took part. United Way of Roanoke Valley President and CEO Afira DeVries delivered a prayer. Roanoke Vice Mayor Anita Price charged parents and guardians with establishing strong roots in their children. Breckenridge Middle School Principal Tracey Anderson urged guardians and the graduates to enjoy their summer but take time to prepare for the new school year.

Funding for the center comes largely from donations and weekly dues from parents and guardians. The church is part of a network called the Allegheny West Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists that provides aid to the center, Williams said.

The center will host a summer camp, open 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from June 4 to Aug. 17 for preschool-age children, and children age 5 to 12.

Williams said it was a powerful moment to watch the center's first-ever preschool class graduate Wednesday night, and "see how God brought it all back to light" after the work that went into reviving the center on Melrose Avenue.