Youth Village
Youth Village
Youth Village is a 501C3 non-profit organization located in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. They began in 1999 as an after-school program and summer camp for children in grades K-8. They provide adult supervision in a safe, nurturing, and encouraging environment that lends itself to the continued educational and social development of the youth in the community.
Now after all these years, they’re up and running in their new 5,000+ square-foot building! They’ve achieved their dream, which was to purchase a larger building to house their new additional program, which is the Youth Village Preschool Academy for children ages 3-5 in addition to their regular program for students in grades K - 8. They are now open from 7am - 6pm Monday - Friday year-round.
They are licensed through the Florida Department of Children and Families and as of October 27, 2020, they’re happy to announce that the School Readiness contract between Youth Village and the Early Learning Coalition of the Emerald Coast has been certified. This means that they are now also able to accept School Readiness vouchers.
School Readiness Child Care Financial Assistance Vouchers allows eligible families to offset the expense of childcare by paying a reduced parent fee. School Readiness childcare assistance is available to families who are at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level and are employed at least 20 hours per week or a student taking at least 12 credit hours. This means that a great number of their children’s tuition will be state funded. All of the VPK children will be state funded as well.
There are many benefits of early education in preschool programs because the most important growth and development in the brain happens by the age of five. Structured early learning fosters these abilities for later success in school and in life. Pre-school prepares children to be ready for Kindergarten because children who participate in high-quality early childhood education programs develop better language skills, score higher in school-readiness tests and have better social skills and fewer behavioral problems once they enter elementary school. At Youth Village, they know that high-quality early learning provides children with a foundation for success and that is their goal.
Since inception, Youth Village has served over 3,000 children in the community.
Why the tree is their logo:
A child can be likened to a tree… they are both grown from a seed. When a seed is planted, it needs to be nurtured until it is established as a sapling which then grows into a mature tree. In the same way, children need constant nurturing, care, and guidance from parents and other caregivers in order to grow and become kind, responsible and mature adults that develop healthy, appropriate lifestyles.
Youth Village Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide a safe place, a fun place, a learning place, a place for kids where people.
https://ouryouthvillage.org/