After 50 years of service to the Shafter, California, community, Kiddie Kollege preschool at Shafter MB Church (SMBC) closed May 22, 2024. The ministry of SMBC has served preschool age children since 1973.
As the state of California opened more free transitional kindergarten classes in public schools, beginning about nine years ago in Shafter, enrollment at Kiddie Kollege decreased, making the preschool no longer viable.
“As for our reasoning for closing, it comes down to not having the enrollment needed the last few years and therefore the financial toll it was beginning to take on our church,” says Kiddie Kollege board chair Heidi Wilson. “The state of California has and will continue to open more transitional kindergartens classes in the public elementary schools over the next number of years; therefore we have already seen a great decrease in that age group. And since Kiddie Kollege is a preschool, we don’t foresee our enrollment numbers improving any.”
A preschool outreach ministry
Kiddie Kollege began in October 1973, after a local co-op nursery closed and offered funds to anyone offering a similar service. SMBC members Lawrence and Kathy Handle saw an opportunity and presented the idea of a preschool outreach ministry to the church council, who approved the endeavor. Over the years, many Kiddie Kollege students were not part of SMBC.
Kiddie Kollege, held in a building on the church campus near the sanctuary, offered two- and three-day programs for children. Most children were ages 3-4, Wilson says. Kiddie Kollege was open from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m. each weekday during the school year until 2022, when the preschool began offering full-day care.
Monthly tuition cost $26 and $39, respectively, for the two- and three-day programs. The first year, enrollment totaled 27 children, and by 1980, that number had grown to 57. Kiddie Kollege was licensed to serve 30 children per day and some years had a waiting list, says Gail Neufeld, SMBC secretary.
Gwen Reimer, the first director, started the program with two aides working every other day. As enrollment increased, the aides were hired full time, and soon, a teacher for each program. Long-time director Helen Gaede began as an aide in 1973 and became director in the late 1980’s. She retired in 2022 after 40 years at Kiddie Kollege, and died on Feb. 17, 2024.
Teaching about Jesus
Kiddie Kollege activities included painting, crafts, stories, singing, indoor and outdoor play, games, snacks, share time where students brought something from home to talk about and field trips to places like a pumpkin patch, cotton field and gin, post office, police and fire stations and visiting residents at Kern Crest Manor, now Carrington.
According to a SMBC bulletin insert, children also enjoyed special days at Kiddie Kollege. A favorite was western day, where children dressed up and often rode a horse brought by a parent. Other special days included a mother’s tea, bear day, Dr. Suess day and dinosaur day.
The goals of Kiddie Kollege were threefold:
- Provide an atmosphere where children can develop a positive self-image through activities that give children a sense of pride in themselves.
- Provide children with an awareness of God’s plan and care for their own lives and the world around them.
- Help children develop their whole bodies, physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
“For the last 50 years, Kiddie Kollege wasn’t just a preschool to prepare kids for kindergarten, but a ministry that taught kids about Jesus,” Wilson says. “Our son Andrew accepted Jesus as his Savior there. Kiddie Kollege will be missed by our Shafter community as hundreds of people and multiple generations can claim that they are Kiddie Kollege graduates.”
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and an Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals award in 2022. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
