As with life in America at all levels, the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected schools.

Sunbeam Christian Preschool received SPARK funds to help them continue to teach young children, said owner Lindsay Hill.

“We are very thankful for the SPARK grant as it helped keep our doors open for another year,” she said. ” We are a private preschool, so we rely on tuition to pay bills and staff. We did not collect tuition after March but continued to provide online services for our preschoolers. This grant allowed us to continue to pay our staff and bills.”

 

“Although enrollment is down this fall because of COVID, Sunbeam Christian Preschool continues to provide a Christian learning experience for all their Sunbeamers,” she said.

 

“Sunbeam Christian Preschool has taken extra precautions to make sure their students can continue in-person learning, with extra cleaning, temperature checks at the door of children entering the building, no parents or adults allowed in the building, and much more,” Hill said.

 

History of Sunshine Christian Preschool

Sunbeam has been in operation since 1985,  30 years under the direction of Marilyn Barker.

Sunbeam Christian Preschool is now owned by Lindsay Hill and directed by Tonya Defebaugh.

The preschool has 3-5-year-olds and offers three different class times:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 12-1:30 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

 

“We are extremely blessed to be apart of the Fort Scott community and thankful for First Baptist Church, where our classroom is located,” she said. The church is located in downtown Fort Scott at the corner and Second and State Streets.

 

SPARK, The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas program, is federal COVID-19 Pandemic recovery money that was given to the states and then to local entities.