Grace Place hosts inaugural Young Authors’ Festival Grace Place’s first-ever Young Authors’ Festival proved to be a setting where imagination had no bounds. Students in grades 3-5 authored and illustrated their own unique stories in preparation for the celebration where community partners, professional authors, volunteers, and friends joined together in their love for books. Kicking [...]
Cookies and Conversation A Recipe for English Language Learning Success Learning a new language can be a challenging journey, filled with the ups and downs of mastering pronunciation and grammar. Recently, 34 Bright Beginnings student parents participated in “Cookies and Conversation” with English-speaking staff members, donors, and volunteers - offering them a valuable opportunity to [...]
Leading the Path to Citizenship from the Front Clay Jones Clay Jones - veteran fighter pilot, retired CEO and Fortune 500 Corporate board member has taught citizenship preparation classes at Grace Place for the past six years. His story inspires us and his students. In 1967, facing uncertainty as a high school senior, Clay heeded [...]
Golden Gate Middle School Principal Advocates for After-School Programs Amid Challenges Dr. Jennifer Knutkowski In addition to overcoming post-pandemic achievement gaps and disruptions following Hurricane Ian, Dr. Jennifer Knutkowski, principal of Golden Gate Middle School, faces another significant challenge. A significant number of Golden Gate Middle School students are English Language Learner (ELL) students and arrive [...]
The Grace Place Approach Fostering Reading Proficiency and Educational Success in Golden Gate Communities Reading proficiently by the end of third grade has been adopted nationally as an important educational milestone. It is at this point that students begin to shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. Without the ability to read instinctively, [...]
Harmony in Action: Food Pantry Volunteers and Donors When it opened in 2008, the Food Pantry was a small but important addition to the programs offered for Grace Place families. Good nutrition helps students show up at school prepared to learn, so helping with groceries seemed like a good idea. Fast forward through several hurricanes [...]
Meet Dilia – A Lifelong Student DILIA’S STORY Adult Education at Grace Place is designed to promote family literacy and serve the general education needs of adults in Golden Gate. Dilia is one of those students. Nineteen years ago, Dilia left Chapas, Mexico, with her infant son after her husband passed away. An uncle living [...]
Wreaths of Grace: A Festive Fusion of Design and Charity A Grinch-themed wreath made by two mothers in the Bright Beginnings Program. Twenty talented interior designers from the Interior Design Society (IDS) Naples showcased their skills by crafting unique holiday wreaths, Wreaths of Grace, to benefit Grace Place. The wreaths each reflected diverse [...]
High School LEAD Program prepares students for life CAROLINA’S STORY For more than eight years, Carolina has participated in programs at Grace Place. “When I was little, I always wanted to be at Grace Place, to be with my friends and to learn from my teachers,” said Carolina. “I feel like I grew up there. [...]
The Choice Academies: With Aspiration Comes Success The Grace Place Middle School Choice Academies are 10-week programs that allow students like 7th graders Tony and Gabby, to study subjects they are intrinsically interested in and have a desire to pursue as part of their future life goals. Students rotate to a new academy after completing [...]