Post Avenue Preschool Embraces Growth and Change
For the fall season, Post Avenue Preschool welcomes new families, school staff, a brand-new classroom, and the construction of a sensory room. As one of Brookville Center for Children’s Services’ most intimate learning centers, Post Avenue is known and loved for its cozy atmosphere. These new additions will only add to its charm as new students join their Foxes, Eagles, and Bears class schoolmates in the new Chipmunks classroom.
Among the new arrivals is Patti Bonvissuto, the special education teacher for the Foxes classroom. Although new to Post Avenue, Patti is a BCCS veteran having started her career at Marcus Avenue Preschool in the ’90s before leaving in 2002 to raise a family, and later teach high school.
In April, she joined Post Avenue embracing the preschool setting once more, which she called a ”full-circle moment.”
“it’s been a nice change. I’m back to where I started,” Patti says of returning to Brookville Center. “There’s a lot of the same faces. It’s amazing how, throughout my career, our paths have crisscrossed in all different ways.”
During her time at Marcus Avenue, Patti worked with Connie Neylon, the special education teacher now leading the Eagles classroom. The two are happy to be back together, often sharing lesson plans and stories in the break room with Eileen Carter, the Bears classroom special education teacher, and Thrista Ramphul, the brand-new special education teacher running the freshly minted Chipmunks class.
Thrista, also a Marcus Avenue transplant, is embarking on her first year at the helm of a classroom. She hit the ground running with Jacky Reyes and Cynthia Tanis-Innocent, the teacher assistants supporting the Chipmunks class.
“So far, it’s been great. All the other teachers and admins have been helping me get situated and getting the room together,” said Thrista. “It’s a new set of students, it’s all very new, but it’s a good feeling because this is ultimately what I want to do.”
Both Patti and Thrista have been wonderful additions to Post Avenue . Patti, with her decades of special education knowledge, curated exciting hands-on activities for students throughout summer session. Her engaging lessons prompted students out of their desks to fish from a boat-shaped cardboard box and warm their hands over a lightbox with yellow and orange Legos glowing on top to simulate a warm campfire.
Thrista has been diligently organizing her classroom, carefully displaying checklists, class schedules, and mounting up a birthday poster displaying the birth dates of the entire Chipmunk crew, including teachers and assistants, so that everyone can be recognized on their special day.
Schoolwide, teachers and staff are also looking forward to accessing the sensory room, a dedicated space for clinical staff to complete one-on-one sessions, and for teachers to bring students who may need extra time to self-regulate or decompress before moving on to a different task. Currently, under renovation, the sensory room is expected to be fully equipped with multi-colored silicone gel floor pads, a marble mural, and sequins mats for multiple sensory input opportunities.
While teachers and staff are adjusting to all these changes, students are enjoying school days busy with their new routines, getting to know their friends and themselves a little better.