MCC PTA EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS INC

Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES): The FLES program has served approximately 2000 K to 6 students per year since 1954. Current offerings include French, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Spanish Literacy for Spanish Speakers. This is a sequential, immersion-based program; our instructors are native speakers who offer cultural notes and serve as role models to students in our diverse county. Children gain confidence in hearing and speaking a new language as well as cultural awareness. The Spanish Literacy program provides instruction in reading and writing Spanish for students who speak Spanish at home. Research consistently demonstrates that early foreign language learning increases cognitive development and is an important component of achieving fluency in a foreign language. Research also shows that literacy in one's native language is instrumental in acquiring English language literacy. Over the course of the 2023-2024 school year, FLES served 1121 students. 244 of the 1121 students received financial assistance in the form of a full or partial scholarship to the program.

Science Pre-K and elementary program: MCCPTA EPI has been a recognized leader in informal science education for decades. Our after school enrichment modules each explore a science topic through visuals, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Children form hypotheses, conduct experiments, record data, and re-examine their hypotheses through the scientific method. Participants in our program gain a broader sense of what science encompasses and are more likely to envision themselves as potential scientists at the end of the session than at the beginning. In 2023-2024, 1258 elementary students were served as well as 100 pre-K students. Of the 1258 elementary students, 369 received full or partial need-based scholarships and all the pre-K students received partial scholarships.