PORTLAND, Maine — If you're a parent, you know dropping your child off at preschool can be really hard. So, what if you could spend part of the day there with them?
The Children's Nursery School, a nonprofit based in Portland that serves kids from three to five years old, allows just that. But it needs money to stay up and running.
At CNS, students are typically excited because of the faces they get to see every day. Faces they know, including their own parents.
"They are a part of our staff. We have two parent helpers each day," Risa Jones, lead teacher at CNS, said.
Tucker Daniels' first child went to CNS 10 years ago. Now, his second child is going there.
"It requires all the parents to chip in," Daniels said.
It's an experience he said he wouldn't trade for anything.
"I hold onto the value of this place even more," Daniels added.
A place with a priceless education that relies on community efforts to keep the doors open. That's why CNS hosted its 44th Annual Winter Carnival on Saturday—its first since the start of the pandemic.
"Not one time during COVID-19 did we say, 'We can't do this,' even when we were at the bare minimum and probably in the red," Jones said.
Jones has been at CNS for 25 years. She said she'll be happy if CNS just breaks even through the carnival fundraising to keep an important mission afloat for the kids who go there.
"They learn how to give messages to friends, hear the word 'no' and practice disappointment, work together/work solo. It's just a magical, magical place," Jones added.
"CNS is a huge family," Daniels said.
A family the parents hope to keep together for years to come. All proceeds from Saturday's carnival will go toward The Children's Nursery School.
To learn more about CNS, click here.