Naples Chapter Gallery

The Naples Chapter has chosen the Fun Time Early Childhood Academy as its local charity. Three of our board members, VP Hanne Monostory, Treasurer Mary Naylor, and Co-President Leilani Pierce were recently invited to lunch and given a tour by their Executive Director, Barbara Tyrrell, and Board Member, Lynn Nolan.

The Fun Time Early Childhood Academy, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, opened in Collier County, FL in 1961. Its mission is to provide safe, quality, affordable education and care for children of low-income working families and to prepare the children for kindergarten—ready to read and ready to learn.

With 6 classrooms, they accept 96 children on a year-round basis. The facility is open from 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM to accommodate the parents’ work schedules. Healthy meals and snacks are served. It uses a skills-based, instructional delivery system to teach and practice formal, standard English, and proper conversational skills. The Early Literacy and Learning Model, with Florida Gulf Coast University and the Florida Institute of Education, increases instruction in reading by one extra hour a day for at-risk children. Library access provides books for children at school and to take home.

A new program, PATCH (Parents Actively Teaching their Children at Home), recognizes the role of the parents as a child’s first teacher and assists parents in developing basic skills to secure gainful employment.

As educators, donors, volunteers, tutors, and friends of Fun Time Families, we are one of the squares in the patchwork of the lives of these children. Our chapter looks forward to lending a hand.

Visit the Fun Time Academy website