SCHOOL READINESS PROGRAM
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Research shows that providing high quality education for children yields significant long-term benefits for both women and children. Children’s experiences during their early years influence how their brain processes information; in other words, whatever does or doesn’t happen in this time frame impacts their capacity for learning. In order to respond to this critical need for services, Holy Cross Ministries provides early childhood education and support for parents and their three- and four-year-old children through the School Readiness preschool program.
Classroom Education
The School Readiness Program classroom utilizes The Creative Curriculum®, a comprehensive, research-based curriculum for preschool along with the corresponding assessment tool, Teaching Strategies® GOLD™, which fully aligns with the Common Core State Standards, Utah’s state early learning guidelines, and the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework. Full-day classes are offered Monday through Thursday from September through May and include both academic and enrichment activities to prepare children academically, socially, emotionally and physically to enter into the public school system. For more information about enrollment and program fees, please contact our School Readiness Program Coordinator, Ivoone Chapa (385-257-2416)
Parent Group Connections
All parents with children ages 0 to 3 years old are invited to attend HCM’s monthly Parents Group Connection nights. These evenings feature various presentations on topics regarding child development. For more information, please contact School Readiness Program Coordinator, Ivoone Chapa (385-257-2416).
HELP SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS
Holy Cross Ministries works to ensure that all children have opportunities to succeed academically. We believe that cost should not be a barrier for children to start school ready to learn. Please help support our program so we can continue offering scholarships to low-income families.
SPOTLIGHT: THE WHITNEY FOUNDATION RESEARCH PROJECT
Holy Cross Ministries received funding from the Whitney Foundation to conduct a longitudinal study of the graduates of Holy Cross Ministries’ School Readiness Program. The project, which Holy Cross is conducting in partnership with The University of Utah’s Department of Family and Consumer Studies, and research specialist Mark Innocenti, incorporated both quantitative and qualitative data on children in Park City and the impact of HCM’s programs on their current academic success.
SCHOOL READINESS PROGRAM STAFF
Sister Mary Ann Pajakowski, CSC
Former Director of Education
Sister Mary Ann Pajakowski CSC hails from South Bend, Indiana. Sister met the Sisters of the Holy Cross while attending St. Joseph’s High School in South Bend. After graduating from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame IN, Sister taught social studies courses in Catholic high schools in Illinois and Indiana for 24 years and received Masters Degrees in American Studies from the University of Minnesota and in administration for non profits from the University of Notre Dame. While teaching at St. Joseph’s HS in South Bend, Sister Mary Ann began to volunteer in the summers to teach religion in the migrant camps in Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan. As migrants began to “settle out” Sister Mary Ann began to work with Latino youth new to South Bend schools and city life. She and Sister Suzanne Brennan CSC moved to live above La Casa de Amistad, a youth center founded by the Holy Cross priests and community leaders in South Bend and continued working with youth and their parents with Girls Scouts, religious ed, community organizing and also hosted lay volunteers from the Sisters of the Holy Cross Associates program who lived with her at La Casa, along with a refugee family from Cambodia and graduate students from the University of Notre Dame. When Holy Cross Ministries was started in Utah, Sister left South Bend for Utah, working with the education departments at Holy Cross Ministries and later for Catholic Community Services at the Wiegand Center in Salt Lake providing programs for homeless preschoolers in shelter and transitional housing. Sister returned to Holy Cross Ministries to resume education work in afterschool, summer, school readiness and Parents as Teachers programming. Sister Mary Ann grew up in South Bend with her parents, John and Irene, older brother Bill and younger sister Margy. Dad and Bill have died; mom is 98 and doing well at St. Paul’s Retirement Center in South Bend and Margy lives in Chicago. Nieces and nephews and their families are in and around South Bend. Sister Mary Ann enjoys gardening, hiking, reading, skiing, camping, and anything outside. Dog Bro shares the house and last year Sister Mary Ann started a beehive in the back yard to support pollination and the bee population. Sister serves on the Sisters of the Holy Cross Congregational Justice Committee and is a member of the Saint Mary’s College Notre Dame IN Board of Trustees. She is a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Park City.
Miriam Nieto
Director of Education
Miriam began working for Holy Cross Ministries in 2007 as part of the After School Program team. Shortly thereafter she undertook the preschool project now known as the School Readiness Program that takes place at St. Mary’s Church in Park City. After overseeing HCM’s preschool classroom as the School Readiness Program Coordinator, she transitioned as the Parents as Teachers Coordinator in 2021 and is now the Director of Education. She has always had a great passion for working in early childhood education and enjoys working with the community of Park City and serving the children and their families. She was born and raised in Mexico City; she graduated in Early Childhood Education from the National Autonomous University of Mexico “UNAM.” She lives in Salt Lake City with her family.
Hilda Marquez
Parents as Teachers (PAT) Case Manager
Hilda joined Holy Cross Ministries in 2012, working in the After-School Program. By 2013 she was coordinating parent outreach in the School Readiness Program where she developed a love for the families in the program. Her role included giving parents the resources that they needed in health and recreation as well as overseeing program registrations. In 2016 she had the opportunity to become Holy Cross Ministries’ first Parent Educator and is currently working with 20 parents and their children (ages 0-3 years old). To Hilda, working with these families is a passion, as she said: “I think I can make a difference, even if it is just a small one, I know that it is huge to these families. I can already see the difference.”
Maria Elena Huyck
Parents as Teachers (PAT) Parent Educator
Maria Elena Huyck was born in Rio Negro Colombia, South America. As a young aspiring professional, Maria studied in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Maria worked and lived in Colombia until marrying Charles Huyck in 2012, at which time she moved to Miami, Florida.
In 2016, Maria became Vice President of a Non-profit organization, Sons of God Ministries (SOG), focused on ministering to the Colombian Police and Military, as well as convicted criminals in the prisons of Colombia, and to the poor and less fortunate.
Maria loves the outdoors, paddle boarding, exercising, and has a special heart for animals. Maria currently has 2 German Shepherds, 1 Schnauzer, and 3 cats! Maria loves watching the wildlife (Moose, Deer, Badgers, Chipmunks, Ground Squirrels, Hummingbirds and others) that frequently visit her home in the mountains near Heber City where she lives. Maria is also an avid maker of jewelry and enjoys teaching others this art!
Maria has a heart and passion for God, family, children, the poor and less fortunate and desires to help those in need.
Esperanza Quintero
Parents as Teachers (PAT) Parent Educator
Esperanza was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia. She immigrated to the United States with her husband in 2001 and has raised 2 young adults and 4 pets! She loves animals, going on walks, cooking, and reading books. Driven by a profound desire to make a positive impact, Esperanza’s greatest aspiration is to contribute to the well-being of children and families. Witnessing the joy and satisfaction on their faces brings her immense fulfillment. She firmly believes in the transformative power within each of us to instigate change and create thriving communities.
Ivoone Chapa
School Readiness Program Coordinator
Ivoone began teaching at HCM’s School Readiness Program in October of 2017. Bertha Ivoone Chapa (she goes by Ivoone) is originally from Peru, where she attended and graduated from the National University of Trujillo with a Bachelor’s in Education. Ms. Chapa’s studies also included English and German languages. Ivoone loves working with children and had over 3 years of experience working with kids from ages 3 to 12 before she joined Holy Cross’ education team. She is fully dedicated to her students and feels as if she is the learning from them on the daily basis. In her spare time, Ivoone enjoys reading, watching movies, spending time with her friends and dancing (she has taught traditional Peruvian dance.)
Juana Gonzalez
School Readiness Program Teacher
Mrs. Gonzalez has more than 20 years of experience in the area of education. Mrs. Gonzalez has a bachelors degree in Phsychology and in Preschool Education from Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de la CDMX, She also has a degree on Teología por la Fudacion AO Internacional. Mrs. Gonzalez has over 10 year experience as supervisor. She has her own Kindergarten School in Mexico. Her focus of work has been with kindergarten ages, and we feel very fortunate to have her on our team. Mrs. Gonzalez is married and a mother of two. She enjoys spending time with her family, drinking coffee, and loves living in a place surrounded by snow.