Miss Aaliyah worked swiftly and calmly, unpacking lunch boxes for a class of hungry preschoolers at DLC Nurse & Learn in her role as a teacher assistant. The students were sitting patiently, joyfully, wiping down the table as they waited for lunch.  A glance around the table revealed children of all abilities and backgrounds-- those with intellectual and developmental differences and those typically developing, children with one parent homes, two parent homes, and foster homes -- none of it relevant to the task at hand. Lunch with friends.

Miss Aaliyah’s thoughts wandered for a moment to the adjacent classrooms where her two sons would soon be eating their lunches. Miss Aaliyah was adopted as a child, an experience that left a powerful imprint on her heart and conceived the desire to adopt children of her own one day. That day finally arrived when a little boy in foster care entered her classroom.  She fell in love with him, found out he had a baby brother, and knew that they were the ones who were born in her heart long ago. Today she continues to help them reach developmental milestones, not just as a teacher assistant, but as their mother.

The preschoolers at DLC Nurse & Learn play and learn in a unique connectable community. Just like Miss Aaliyah, these students will carry into adulthood experiences and knowledge imprinted on their little hearts. They will know -- among many things -- that we all have a place at the table.

Connectable partner, DLC Nurse & Learn provides year-round high quality education, nursing care, and therapies to children of all abilities so that children and families have the opportunity to reach their maximum potential, this includes a preschool program as well as a before/afterschool program for students up to 22 years of age.