Next stop, graduation for these mobile preschool students

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There’s a graduation ceremony Tuesday for some of Philadelphia’s youngest students.

For the last six months, El Busesito , Spanish for “little bus,” has been traveling through Frankford helping 3-and 4-year-olds prepare for kindergarten.

The bus is run by Xiente, formerly the Norris Square Community Alliance. Adamary Sosa, the group’s vice president of education, says twice a week, kids board the bus to learn.

“Not just letters, but we’re assessing them in numbers, shapes, colors and comparisons,” Sosa said.

But the learning does not stop there — parents are taught financial literacy, resume building, as well as how to be teachers themselves.

“Not just being avid educators by dropping them off at school every day, but also being agents of change in their home and, like, bringing education into their household.”

Sosa says the bilingual program’s seven graduating kids have all shown progress toward being ready for kindergarten. The $500,000 endeavor is funded by grants from Vanguard and the William Penn Foundation, and Sosa says Xiente is already looking to expand the program to South Philadelphia.