The Preschool of West Hartford will be closing for good this month and longtime executive director Beth Redden Sciarra will be retiring.

By Ronni Newton

Beth Redden Sciarra doesn’t have a favorite memory.

“There is not one – there are hundreds of little moments, tender moments,” she said, her voice breaking slightly from emotion. The moments included when children said, “I did it,” or when parents would give her hugs and thanks, or when children showed kindness to each other.

More than a quarter century after Sciarra purchased the Preschool of West Hartford, and after nearly 1,000 children from 800 families have spent time playing ad learning in the classrooms in the basement of a church at the corner of Sedgwick Road and Westminster Road, Sciarra will be retiring and the school will close its doors for good.

“This was in the works before the virus hit,” Sciarra said. “I had all along wanted to retire this year,” she said.

Sciarra had informed the staff and families of her plans last. Covenant Christian Church had merged with another church and wanted to buy the preschool assets for use by the congregation.

“It worked out really well,” she said, and the church leaders are happy to have the entire building. “It’s nice to know it will be used,” she said.

Sciarra will receive a proclamation from Mayor Shari Cantor at the Town Council’s virtual meeting on Tuesday. June 9 will be proclaimed “Beth Sciarra Day,” and the proclamation urges residents “to recognize the crucial role played by our volunteers in the community.”

Volunteering, and building a sense of community, has been an integral part of the mission of the Preschool of West Hartford ever since Sciarra bought the school in 1994 from the four women who founded it in the late 1980s.

“It’s been a wonderful ride. I’ve been so happy to be there,” Sciarra said.

The Preschool of West Hartford has been a true community school, with 98% of the children living in West Hartford. “They would see each other in the summers. It was friendship beyond the walls,” she said, adding that many of the students remained friends for years into the future.

“We worked very hard with the children to build a good sense of community and good sense of being a good citizen,” said Sciarra.

The proclamation notes that the Preschool of West Hartford “has promoted the development of the whole child, socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically, regardless of race, religion, ethnic background or abilities … in an unhurried setting, children at The Preschool of West Hartford have been encouraged to develop self-confidence and self-esteem as well as learn to share and relate to others.”

Food drives, book drives, making cards for residents of St. Mary’s Home twice a year have all been activities in which the children have participated, Sciarra said. Families also volunteered with the Johnny’s Jog for Charity fundraising event.

This year there were 17 families whose children attended Preschool of West Hartford.

The school has remained engaged with families since the building was forced to close in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers have been holding Zoom sessions with the families, reading stories, doing science experiments. They have also had show and tell.

It’s tough doing distance learning with preschoolers, Sciarra said. Parents must participate, and for the long children “the distractibility is very high,” she said, so the sessions have to be in very short intervals. In addition, many families have multiple children who need to use the computers.

“The children have missed their friends, and the teachers have missed their students,” she said.

A planned open house goodbye celebration in early June had to be canceled, but the children and teachers will have one final chance to see each other. A celebratory car parade will take place on Saturday, June 13, at 9:30 a.m., in the school’s parking lot. Each student will receive a certificate, and although physically distant, they will sing some songs together.

“It will be so nice to see their faces,” Sciarra said.

Sciarra, one of eight children and a lifelong resident of West Hartford, attended several schools in town and graduated from Hall High School and earned her degree in early childhood education from Lasell University in Newton, MA.

Her own three children all went through West Hartford Public Schools, Sciarra said.

Her youngest was in elementary school when Sciarra bought Preschool of West Hartford in 1994. At the time there were morning and afternoon classes for the preschoolers, she said, but eventually the program evolved to daily from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Many families now are seeking full-day preschool programs.

“I know the timing was right, but the connection with families is still so strong,” Sciarra said.

She said she has no plan to leave town, and her husband still works full time.

“I have nothing concrete,” Sciarra said of her future plans.

Parents and graduates of The Preschool of West Hartford are encouraged to share their memories on Facebook at “Friends of The Preschool of West Hartford & Beth Sciarra.”

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