Corinna Bryant’s home-based child care and preschool program is committed to family engagement and Corinna puts families at the center of everything she does. Corinna regularly seeks out ways to ensure her students and their families have opportunities to share meaningful experiences, including hosting family field trips to places like the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. These field trips give parents opportunities to spend quality time with their children while visiting some of Cleveland’s cultural and educational resources.

Families in Corinna’s program meet regularly with a nurse during family meetings that cover topics like health, safety, and child development. Because Corinna gets to know her families so well, she is able to connect them to services and resources they need. This includes providing children with books they take home twice a month to promote literacy awareness and build a home library for the parents and children to share. Parents also participate in conferences four times per year, during which they review progress and set goals for their child.

Corinna also hosts an annual graduation ceremony for the children in her program who are moving on to kindergarten. The children get to choose the color of their cap and gown and their families help decorate and plan the celebration. Families are also involved in making decisions about her program and helping with special projects like building the new garden and play area.

All the work Corinna does to engage families has made a big impression. One parent said, “I love all the sentimental projects she does with the kids–they will be wonderful keepsakes for years to come. She is really great with them when it comes to education and I feel my kids know above and beyond what they should for their age because of the hard work she puts in with them. She takes care of their emotional well-being as well and cares for and loves them as her own. I also like that she keeps us informed of anything going on with our kids and also helps them if they are struggling in a particular area of learning. All of her teaching is hands-on and I feel that is essential when it comes to young children.”

The students in Corinna’s program benefit from her Associate’s Degree in early childhood education and Bachelor’s Degree in child development, plus years of experience in early learning settings, including Head Start. Corinna uses the High Scope curriculum and play-based learning.

Corinna Bryant is a 5-Star rated preschool site in Brooklyn Centre. It serves infants to 5-year-olds Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.