Jubilee in the News

May 23, 2022 — The Beaufort Gazette and its sister paper the Island Packet, the largest newspapers in the southern lowcountry, recently published a preview of the Jubilee Co-operative Preschool that will open on September 6, 2022. An extract:

“Your typical preschool is you go into your one cinder-block room and that’s where you are all day,” [Director Amy] Dungan said…. “We’re trying to bring a love of learning to children and we are going to do that by being as engaging as we can.”

The first room, the “nature room,” will have “live specimens, animals”…a place where children can participate in science experiments.

The second, the “words room,” focuses on stories and reading. Reading to children, Dungan said, sets them up for the future. “We are going to be reading with children in a way that is fun and engaging…“ she said.

The “romp room” will focus on helping children develop gross motor skills and self-control. A martial-arts instructor will come to the school twice a month to teach the children. “Martial arts is a discipline,” Dungan said. “There are many children [who] have a hard time listening to somebody, an adult, and senseis for some reason can get through to the children. They pay attention and then they understand when you have to listen and how you have to control your body…”

The “maker space” specializes in teaching students about science, technology, engineering and math.

In the final rotation, the “outdoor space,” students can play outside under a covered pavilion with tricycles and playground equipment. “We’re creating a unique model.”

May 24, 2022 — A new educational plan starting in Beaufort and Jasper County is attempting to get kids a good start in school, with a little different way of thinking and teaching.

It’s a critical time in a child’s life, starting their educational journey at a young age to get them used to learn. Now, one new school in the Lowcountry is taking a different approach to give all kids a chance to start their education as soon as possible.

It’s called the Jubilee Co-Operative Preschool. And starting this fall for Beaufort and Jasper county three-year-old’s, it’s an opportunity for kids to find the way they learn best, by ear, by book as well as finding ways to stimulate the mind through exercise, music and more.

“It is a combination of many philosophies and we tweaked them all and put them in a pot and came up with our own,” said Amy Dungan, Director of Jubilee Co-Operative Preschool. “It is using researched best practices but doing it in a different way.”

Organizers say it combines some of the systems in regular preschools, Montessori and more, as well as making sure parents get involved and stay involved in their student’s education.

“Children get to see their parents involved and see their parents are modeling best practices. and come to understand there is an importance to education and if their parents are side by side with them they are going to figure that out very quickly,” said Amy Dungan, Jubilee Co-Operative Preschool.

“I hope we are establishing a new design for education and this is not a one shot boutique school. Our vision is we are going to work on this school, we are going to work on the curriculum and perfect it. and the goal is to replicate this to other communities in need,” said Dungan.

The school is limited to 50 students and has a 10 to 1 teacher-to-student ratio, along with a parent in every room. The kids rotate through two different classrooms a day and those outside activities. Backed by a local philanthropist. Jubilee is expected to open in Hardeeville this fall.

It isn’t free but it is designed to be affordable, especially for lower to middle-income families in all communities. The tuition could be as low as $100 a month depending on income level.

The hope is families from all spectrums and ways of life will be part of this experience.

The Bluffton Sun | Amy Coyne Bredeson

July 5, 2022 — A new preschool, soon to open in Hardeeville, is gearing up to change the way little people are taught. The founding educators say they have reinvented the whole concept of preschool, which they believe has stayed the same for the past 100 years.

The Jubilee Cooperative Preschool is set to open its doors Sept. 6 to children ages 3 to 5. The new school will combine different teaching methods with a custom curriculum, parent involvement, and a staff of master teachers to prepare toddlers for kindergarten.

“We’re here to serve an area that has plenty of opportunity in Jasper County and the furthermost western Beaufort County,” director Amy Dungan said. “And we’re hoping to provide a solid foundation for little people to get ready for school.”

Dungan expects students to come from as far away as Hilton Head Island, where she has taught for many years.

Designed by longtime educators who saw a need among disadvantaged children in the area, Jubilee offers a unique approach to preschool. Dungan said Jubilee will be different in a variety of ways.

First, the preschool requires that a family member of each student volunteers one three-hour shift in the classroom every two weeks. Dungan said this gives parents a chance to see how their children are developing and what they are learning at school. It also gives parents an opportunity to learn from highly qualified teachers.

“Hopefully the parents will have lots of take-homes that they can use as well,” Dungan said.

Secondly, each classroom is limited to 10 children. In each room, there will be one teacher and one parent, as well as skilled aides, educational specialists and the director, who will come in and out as needed.

Thirdly, the school day will be different from other schools. Instead of staying in one classroom all day with an outdoor break here and there, students at Jubilee will rotate between two classrooms a day, with lunchtime, naptime, and plenty of outdoor playtime interspersed in between.

The children will stay with the same teacher and group of classmates but will experience various forms of stimulation in the different rooms.

The school will have five different content-specific classrooms, and each day the children will spend time in two of those rooms. Students will work on early literacy skills in the Words Room; learn about plants and animals in the Nature Room; dance, play music, and practice yoga and martial arts in the Romp Room; create and construct in the Maker Room; and have fun with water tables and play equipment in the Outdoor Room.

Each week, every student will have visited each room twice.

“We’re not crazy and going rogue, and reinventing the wheel,” Dungan said. “We’re just taking the best of everything that we know that’s been proven and putting it together in our own way.”

Jubilee’s philosophy uses some components of the Montessori method and the Reggio Emilia approach to education. The school focuses on hands-on learning and learning through play, while instilling a love of learning.

In an effort to really partner with the families and connect them with valuable resources in the community, Jubilee will have a home visit program. A home visit coordinator who is experienced in social work and child development will visit families in their homes at least twice a year.

Dungan hopes this will build trusting relationships between the school and the families, so the school can help if a family is in need.

“It’s a very affordable program for those in need,” Dungan said. “There just aren’t many of them, especially in Jasper County, so hopefully that will fulfill a need.”

Tuition at Jubilee is determined on a sliding scale based on income level.

For now, the preschool will be hosted at Red Dam Baptist Church in Hardeeville, but the school will open a permanent structure within the next couple of years.

In addition, Jubilee’s sister institution, the Jubilee Charter School, is set to open in 2023 and will serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

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