GNV4all will hold celebration on Saturday, March 23

Press release from GNV4all

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A day of family fun and food is planned for the Gainesville Empowerment Zone Family Learning Center’s first “We’re Growing Greatness” Spring celebration on Saturday, March 23. The event, which begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m., will be held at the center, located on the campus of Metcalfe Elementary School, 1250 NE 18^th Ave., Bldg 11.

James Lawrence, GNV4ALL President and CEO, said the event would be a public celebration of the Family Learning Center’s opening last August after at least four years of planning and fundraising.

“We want to thank the community, our many partners, who include the Alachua County School Board, Alachua County, and the City of Gainesville, as well as private donors who helped to make the Family Learning Center a reality,” said Lawrence. “We’re well on our way to tackling some of the most debilitating problems plaguing the Gainesville area community.”

Lawrence said foremost among those problems is the ever-widening academic achievement gap between black and white students in the county. He said the Center seeks to begin narrowing the gap by reaching low-income children as early as six weeks old and connecting their families to vital community services.

“By using this approach in a more systematic way, we believe we can show the way to preparing more kindergarten-ready children from low-income households,’’ Lawrence said.

Tours of the facility will be available, and families will be able to enroll children aged 6 weeks to 4 years old for the current school year and the term that begins in August.