Free To Be

Want to share your memories of Free To Be? Please send to [email protected].

We'd like to thank the beautiful Free To Be community for all of your kind words and support. We want to believe that FTB will re-open someday but at this time we are closed permanently.

Stay tuned for information on where to send your memories of this beautiful place. We love you and cherish you all.

Dear Friends of Free To Be,

As some of you may know, Stockton University leadership recently announced that Free to Be would be closing permanently after 46 years of operation.

We were all caught off-guard by an email update that was sent a few weeks ago to staff and families, including the Free to Be Co-Op board. The email cited “financial challenges” and the need to “locate the cost-savings that will allow [the University] to fulfill our core mission”. Although many expected that Free to Be may not re-open in the fall due to the pandemic, no one in the Free to Be community expected the center to permanently close. The fact that this decision was “announced to” rather than “discussed with” the Free to Be community was an added blow. Stockton leadership’s refusal to meet and consider creative solutions is also deflating.

Needless to say, many of us are working through the shock and heartbreak. For nearly five decades Free to Be has nurtured the minds and hearts of young children, cultivated future generations of teachers, made it possible for nontraditional college students to pursue academic pursuits, and built bridges with the larger community.

I’m emailing you to ask for your help.

Please consider writing a letter to Stockton University leadership. To help make this easier, below is a template you could use and adapt to your needs. Please write from the heart about what Free to Be has meant to you and/or your family. When the letter is complete, please send it to:
⦁ President Kesselman: ⦁ [email protected]
⦁ Interim Provost McDonald: ⦁ [email protected]
⦁ Dean of Education Keenan: ⦁ [email protected]

Please share this information far and wide. Thank you so much for your support. Free to Be has meant so much to so many. With your help maybe we can get a seat at the table to brainstorm alternative ways forward so that Free to Be can live on.

Yours truly,
The Free To Be Team

TEMPLATE:
Dear President Kesselman, Interim Provost McDonald, and Dean Keenan,

I’m writing to express my profound disappointment related to your decision to permanently close Free to Be.

I can speak to the many benefits of Free to Be because of my firsthand experience as a STUDENT/ ALUMNUS//TEACHER/PARENT/ETC. ADD TEXT HERE THAT SPEAKS TO YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES.

I strongly encourage your administration to take the following actions:

⦁ Reverse any permanent decision to close Free to Be.

⦁ Meet with Free to Be stakeholders. I understand that you have been unwilling to meet with Free to Be staff or families when making the decision to close Free to Be. I ask that you convene a series of meetings with Free to Be stakeholders to listen and collaborate on identifying new and innovative solutions to keep Free to Be open.

⦁ Identify immediate and long-term solutions. Work with stakeholders to identify immediate solutions to staying open through the pandemic. Then, use ongoing working meetings with stakeholders to identify a sustainable solution for Free to Be that is beneficial to the University, the community, and the families and children it serves.

Sincerely,

ADD FIRST AND LAST NAME
ADD CONTACT INFORMATION (PHONE, ETC.)

Join some familiar friends in an important talk about racism in our country. Viewing together may help you start the conversation with your children at home. These conversations are vital and we hope you'll join in!!

Elmo, Abby Cadabby, and Cookie Monster are helping kids stand up to racism. Join Sesame Street and CNN for Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism, a town hall for kids and families, today at 10 a.m. ET

Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race - Books For Littles Books to help kids to unpack racial bias so they can hear how ridiculous it sounds, think about where it comes from, and realize how it develops.

Things haven't stopped completely "at" Free To Be. We've been reading (via Zoom)! Our last book seems like a good one to share, if you've never read it.
Mo Willems' "Waiting is Not Easy" is a good read for any and all ages during this crazy time. Piggie has a surprise for Gerald but he must wait for it...and the hardest thing is that, he doesn't even know what he is waiting for! Anyone feel like that these days?!!
Check out any and all of the fabulous Elephant and Piggie Books and much more on Willems' website.
And remember, we're all waiting for this to be over, and it isn't easy for any of us. Sending love from FTB

Waiting Is Not Easy! – Pigeon Presents Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.

Current FTB Families please make sure you are checking your email for updates regarding our COVID closure. Please email [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Free To Be-ers, we are missing you!! Check in with us via Facebook, Email, or (for current families), the GroupMe app. We want to know how you're doing, what you've been up to and how we can participate!

We are thinking of you, FTB community!
Unfortunately, at this time we will be canceling our upcoming events due to the ongoing COVID related closure.
Please know that we WILL reschedule our Art Show for our current FTBers (even as a modified event at FTB during the Summer)
Details will come, but until then...please know that we are thinking of you all and cannot wait to be together again!

Closure Update:
We will be closed as of 6pm tonight, March 17th. We will remain closed until further notice.

Thinking of all of our families at this time. Stay healthy!

Free To Be will be OPEN during Spring Break: March 16th-March 20th
We will be CLOSED the following two weeks:
March 23rd-April 3rd at which time we will reassess along with Stockton University regarding our return date.
Please email [email protected] with any questions. Thank You!

Parents and students, thank you for your patience as we learn more about how this affects our open status during Spring Break. We will be closed either way between March 20th-April 5th. Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Stockton University announced plans to extend spring break through Tuesday, March 24, with ALL classes resuming online March 25-April 5. More details at ow.ly/gj8150yIaF9.