Creative Ways To Prepare Your Child For Kindergarten!

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Shaye seemed eager to participate, proud of her accomplishments and enjoyed the variety in the program. Materials were excellent.

Evaluation comment from a mom

Did you know?

46% of suburban and rural children do not understand relative size (an early math skill).

Kindergarten Readiness Team

The Brains Behind Pre K Scholars

	Amy Schwary, Co-Founder and Program Developer Amy is a graduate of University of Southern California (USC) who majored in Education. She taught kindergarten and second grade in northern and southern California school districts for five years before retiring to raise a family. She developed the Pre K Scholars curriculum to assure that her oldest child was ready for kindergarten and began teaching a small class of family friends along with her children. So successful, she now teaches two classes a week and has a waiting list for future classes, earning overwhelmingly positive parental course evaluations. Amy is a mother of four children, two of whom are twins who have had acting roles on television at the ripe age of 3. Amy and her husband enjoy active lives in Newport Beach, California.
	Alan Pierrot, MD, Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Pierrot is a retired orthopedic surgeon who discovered he had an entrepreneur's heart shortly after opening his practice in 1973. With local physicians he launched a hotel-like physician-owned surgery center that grew it into a remarkable new model of care, the specialty hospital. Listening to his patients, he realized they wanted an exceptional healthcare experience with all the customer service of a boutique hotel—so he built a team and a facility that delivered both. The model won national awards for excellence and earned the highest hospital customer satisfaction ratings in California and Alan was named Northern California's 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year for healthcare. When he heard of the tremendous local success of his daughter Amy's kindergarten readiness course, he encouraged her to make the course available to parents and teachers alike, and their partnership in Pre K Scholars was born. Dr. Pierrot researched the industry and soon recognized the value and unique qualities of this program. He oversees the business while Amy focuses on keeping the program relevant and creative.
	Carson Abbert, Teacher and Artist Carson contributed his watercolor talents to Pre K Scholars' creative phonics characters and the clever town of Scholarville. Currrently an art teacher at Walt Morey Middle School in Portland, Oregon, Carson has taught high school art, design and photography as well as ceramics for ages 6-12 for the past nine years. He holds a BFA in Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art and a Master's degree from Portland State University. His many awards and scholarships include the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, Dorothe D. Niebes Award, Mary Seymour Brooks Award, and John Paul Wrobbel Scholarship. His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout Oregon, New Mexico and Ohio.
	Vicki Mathiesen, Mother, Artist and Teacher Vicki illustrated the many creatures, people and things decorating the Pre K Scholars Guessing Game cards. For nearly 40 years Vicki has volunteered her time, talent and enthusiasm to teach the fundamentals of art and has contributed her work to many worthy causes. She studied commercial art at California State University, Fresno, acquiring a great art education in the basics of drawing, painting and illustration. Vicki is a student of her surroundings, capturing the color and energy of life in her buoyant and captivating artwork. Although Vicki will soon become a grandmother, she has the curiosity of a child and a great thirst for knowledge that inspires those who know her. Vicki and her husband Mike divide their time between Fresno and Carmel-by-the-Sea, and visit their twin daughters in San Francisco as often as possible.
	Michele Mathiesen, "Graphic Girl" Michele is the writer and editor of the Pre K Scholars Guessing Game, a project she happily recruited her mom to illustrate. Additionally, she assisted with the creative direction and production of the Pre K Scholars learning material. Michele received her BA in Design from UCLA, studied art in Florence, Italy, and has worked in the fields of graphic design, film, publishing and production. She is currently working towards a professional degree in interior design at FIDM in San Francisco.
	Frank Balog, Investor and Principal Frank Balog spent the majority of his business career with Fortune 500 companies running large divisions, when he discovered he enjoyed teaching people to run businesses even more. He subsequently channeled his entrepreneurial spirit to launch a successful consulting practice working with small business owners on how to grow their company's ideas and hard work into value creation and competitive advantage. He got excited about the Pre K Scholars idea on a fly-fishing trip with Dr. Alan Pierrot. Frank, who believes children who have a solid pre-k education outperform throughout their academic careers as well as life, immediately recognized the value and potential of the Pre K Scholars concept and subsequently became an investor, principal and business coach.