Mi Escuelita Buckner, a historic local program for children and families and Mi Escuelita, an innovative early childhood preschool, entered a partnership May 2004 that leaders from both organizations say will change young lives through language. Buckner Children and Family Services of North Texas and Mi Escuelita Preschool signed the agreement during a ceremony at the Dr. J.C. and Meriam Calabria Community Center on the campus of Buckner Children’s Home, creating Mi Escuelita Preschool at Buckner. Mi Escuelita Preschool at Buckner will provide language-based, early childhood education on the historic Buckner Children’s Home campus at the John and Elaine Gabbert Center for Education. "This is a great marriage of services for both Mi Escuelita Preschool and Buckner," noted Mi Escuelita Executive Director Carolyn Strickland. "Mi Escuelita offers children a key to future achievement through a strong foundation based on literacy and language skills, while Buckner offers us a strong base of support and a fantastic school facility for children to learn." Felipe Garza of Buckner Children and Family Services said the partnership "continues the tradition held by Buckner of meeting the vast needs of our community. Mi Escuelita Preschool at Buckner will provide an educational opportunity for local children to succeed in life through fluency in English." Mi Escuelita Preschool at Buckner is the seventh Mi Escuelita Preschool in the Dallas area. An early childhood program dedicated to teaching English and developing early learning and literacy skills, it is designed for at-risk children of all cultures in preparation for a successful school experience. The preschool is one of the many ministries to families offered by Buckner Children and Family Services of North Texas, which has assembled a group of services tailored to the needs of the North Texas community in the areas of adoption, family services, job education, residential care, social services, and crisis response.