History

Over 40 years of excellence in early childhood education

In 1966, Ruth Helen Marks of Joyce United Methodist Church realized that that too many children in the Uptown neighborhood lacked meaningful early education options. Since that time, Joyce Preschool has offered preschool to families regardless of ability to pay.

In 1994, Head Teacher Sharon Dill identified a growing need in the community for bilingual preschool in response to a rapidly growing Latino community and their substantial barriers to accessing quality early childhood education. The following year, Joyce Preschool became the only fully bilingual preschool in the City of Minneapolis. Because the Board believed that children learn best while playing with their peers, the program was structured around equal numbers of English and Spanish speaking children, with the curriculum taught in both languages. Staff was hired to reflect the linguistic diversity of the students, and the school became a place where children from homes of many incomes and cultures meet.

In the years since Sharon Dill first proposed the concept, Joyce Preschool has refined its two-way immersion approach and doubled in size. Throughout the years, Joyce has been committed to removing barriers to accessing early childhood education through providing scholarships and transportation.

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