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Growing up in Grove Park, the neighborhood recreation center at 750 Francis Place was more than just a building.
I have fond memories of walking there during the summer to meet up with friends and enjoy the carefree days of childhood. I also remember my brothers attending Camp Best Friends at this very location; picking them up each afternoon became a familiar part of our family’s daily routine.
So, returning on Wednesday, October 28 felt like a full-circle moment. The building is still serving the community, though now some of its youngest visitors are getting an early start on their education.
Every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon, the recreation center hosts United Way of Greater Atlanta’s Learning Spaces program, a free preschool learning program in partnership with the City of Atlanta and others. Expect music, movement, storytelling, and hands-on activities that encourage curiosity and exploration. As for parents and caregivers, they learn ways to support early literacy, language development, and other skills that help prepare children for kindergarten.
United Way’s decision to bring Learning Spaces in Grove Park was intentional. Cori Dickens-Cain, who leads the organization’s education team, explained that United Way examines child well-being indicators to identify communities where additional resources—like access to affordable childcare—could make a difference.
“One of the things that we want to do is make sure that families have access to quality early learning experiences, no matter where they are, and no matter their capacity to pay for it,” Dickens-Cain said.
Lisa Polk, founder of Pollyanna’s Place, a nonprofit that operates Learning Spaces locations in Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton counties, shared a story about one parent whose daughter participated in the program and became the strongest reader in her class.
One of the program’s distinguishing features, though, is providing support for the entire family. Parents and caregivers can participate alongside their children, to understand children’s strengths and develop confidence in communicating with educators, “helping our parents sometimes overcome trauma they experience as learners in the K-12 space,” said Letitia Dorsey, a consultant working with Learning Spaces.
Parents and caregivers can participate in Learning Spaces too, to bond with their children and access resources like free developmental screenings.
Through a partnership with Georgia State University, Learning Spaces offers access to free developmental screenings to identify potential developmental delays before their children enter school. Meanwhile, on Saturday, November 7, the Grove Park Recreation Center will also host a “Dads and Little Learners” pop-up specifically to engage fathers. Program leaders hope that “Dads and Little Learners” becomes a recurring event, using the rec center’s basketball courts and playground in future activities.
Although programming at Grove Park began in May, Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting formally introduced Learning Spaces to neighborhood residents. The program comes as the City of Atlanta prepares to renovate the Grove Park Recreation Center. Ramondo Davidson, senior advisor of youth and senior engagement at the City of Atlanta, tells Canopy Atlanta that renovations will cost an estimated $24 million.
Generations of residents have already raised families in Grove Park, even as the neighborhood experienced periods of disinvestment and significant change.
“This area has been for a long time an important part of Black history of Atlanta,” said Tiffani Bryant, assistant director at the City of Atlanta’s Office of Recreation. “It makes perfect sense to invest in our little babies in this area, so they can not only learn the fundamentals that would allow them to learn that history when they get older, but just to come over here and be loved on by the City of Atlanta.”
The challenges facing Grove Park have not disappeared. Families still need affordable childcare, accessible educational resources, and public facilities that reflect their needs.
But programs like Learning Spaces demonstrate what is possible when community institutions and organizations work together to make more resources available.
And perhaps years from now, one of the children attending a Wednesday morning Learning Spaces session will return to the Grove Park Recreation Center with memories of their own.
Just as I did.
Editor: Christina Lee
Fact Checker: Christina Lee
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