Extraordinary
Educator
Jennifer Passmore goes the extra mile for local students
WORDS: Amy Bell
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
As the Director of Woodland Early
Childhood Center (WECC) and
Dunn Preparatory Academy,
Jennifer Passmore’s job is no walk in the
park. Yet, even after 20 years at WECC,
this passionate education maven nds
her role extremely rewarding.
“The thing that rst attracted me to WECC
was the freedom to go to extraordinary
means to meet the needs of children,”
Passmore recalls. “The staff was willing
and eager to learn new techniques, and
it has been a lot of fun watching them
grow.” Above all else, Passmore says she
enjoys observing the end result: “Seeing
children happy and learning.”
Ministries on a Mission
WECC is a weekday preschool located on
the Woodland Community Church campus
in East Bradenton. This rst-rate preschool
has been serving Manatee County families
with a safe, loving, and rich learning
environment for more than two decades.
A recognized leader in early childhood
education, WECC is fully accredited by
the National Council for Private School
Accreditation and Florida Association of
Christian Colleges and Schools.
“The overall mission of all the ministries
of Woodland Community Church is
to meet the needs of people in the
community and share God’s love with
them,” says Passmore. “The Woodland
Early Childhood Center was established
many years ago because, at the time,
there were no daycares or preschools out
east past the interstate.”
More recently, WECC joined with the
Brad Dunn Foundation to create a
private elementary school that provides
personalized education for individual
children. The Brad Dunn Foundation
is committed to making sure that all
children are successful by teaching to
the individual. The Foundation made
a significant investment in classroom
materials, technology, curriculum
materials, and classroom furniture, as
well as teacher training and funds to
attract exceptional educators. Also based
at the Woodland Community Church
campus, Dunn Preparatory Academy
currently offers kindergarten through 5th
grade classes.
“We established Dunn Preparatory as an
alternative to public school and the move
towards common core,” Passmore says.
She adds that they do not necessarily
have a problem with the “core,” as it is
almost identical to the Sunshine State
Standards that were in place before the
move to common core.
“Our issue is with the word ‘common’
and the push to have all children working
on the same standards at the same
time,” she explains. “It is unrealistic and
completely dismissive of everything
we know about the brain and how kids
learn to expect that they will all be at
the same place at the same time. So,
we offer an alternative to the “common”
in common core. We also offer an
alternative to the way that reading is
taught. We use the Orton-Gillingham
method of instruction.”
According to years of research, in addition
to the Dunns’ personal experience, the
Orton-Gillingham approach to education
is highly effective. Including explicit
instruction and multisensory activities,
this teaching approach is designed to
meet the individual learning style of each
child. “It is a multisensory approach that is
explicit in teaching the rules of language,”
Passmore describes.
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