CCK Preschool Moves to a New "Korner"

After 45 years in its original home, Ridgefield’s Creative Children’s Korner continues its legacy of learning in more expansive quarters.

When preschool director Helen Kovacs swung open the doors to Creative Children’s Korner (better known as CCK) last month, she welcomed students to not only a new school year, but also to a new school facility.

During what she called a “flawless move” over the summer, Mrs. Kovacs and her staff left behind their cozy but cramped former home in a residential area and settled into a larger space on the grounds of the First Congregational Church of Ridgefield. The preschool is now conveniently located at the corner of Routes 33 and 35, close to both the New York state line and Ridgefield’s landmark Cass Gilbert fountain.

“The church has been wonderful and welcoming to us,” Mrs. Kovacs told parents at CCK’s Open House on Sept. 7. “We are still making this our school, but we are already very comfortable.”

The move is a poignant one for CCK. In 1967 Ethelyn Pinchbeck founded the nursery school in her home on Old South Salem Road, where for 45 years teachers fostered a love of learning in countless youngsters from Ridgefield, Redding and South Salem, N.Y. CCK continued to thrive in its little house long after Mrs. Kovacs took charge in 1999, until finally enrollment had outgrown it.

At the First Congregational Church, CCK students have more room to play, to learn and to grow—and teachers have more flexibility. Whereas the original house offered only two activity areas, the new building provides three classrooms: one each for three-year-olds, four-year-olds, and students in the transitional kindergarten program known as TK, including a large playroom that can be shared by all age groups. The increased space also will allow Mrs. Kovacs to offer more scheduling options to parents. 

Yet returning families and those who fondly recall their own childhood experiences at CCK have nothing to fear: the change of venue has not changed the personal approach upon which the school was founded. Family photos still adorn classroom walls, parents are still welcome to peek in, and annual traditions such as the fall feast and the spring art show still figure prominently in the school schedule. Even old favorites from CCK’s previous playground have made the transition, including the “circle cycle,” the “stagecoach” and “volcano” climbing gyms, and the school’s beloved backyard train. 

At the heart of it all is a community of caring and attentive adults. “Our student-teacher ratio allows for individual interaction,” said Mrs. Kovacs, who hosts informal yet informative “mothers’ coffees” every month or so, and sends out weekly email updates in addition to a monthly newsletter. “I still love talking with parents,” she said with a smile. 

Creative Children’s Korner preschool is located at 103 Main St. (at the First Congregational Church) in Ridgefield, Conn. For general information, visit www.cckpreschool.com. To schedule an appointment, please contact Helen Kovacs at 203-438-3001 or info@cckpreschool.com.