At Magic Shapes Child Care in Southeast Portland, the mornings hum with warmth and routine. Children find their friends and settle into their favorite activities. Parents pause to chat with provider Gabriela Delgado, who always remembers the small details like asking about a grandparent’s visit, a family celebration, or a weekend plan the family mentioned last week.
For Gaby, who has been an early childhood educator for more than 25 years, that connection is the heart of her work. It’s part of what inspired her to open her own family child care site and join Preschool for All’s Pathways Program in the spring of 2022. The Pathways Program offers a supportive bridge that helps providers build capacity and become ready to offer publicly funded preschool through PFA. Gaby successfully completed the program and became a contracted PFA provider this fall, joining our network of nearly 220 sites around the county!
A Promise That Reaches Families
Before joining Preschool for All (PFA), many Magic Shapes families struggled to find affordable early learning that felt safe, consistent, and culturally familiar. Gaby saw those challenges every day — parents juggling multiple jobs, families sharing concerns about costs, children waiting for openings that never came.
When Magic Shapes became part of PFA this year, everything shifted. The program’s funding has helped Gaby remodel her space, strengthen her team, and ensure she’s able to pay herself a wage. It also allowed her to offer tuition-free preschool for families who had long needed it.
“The parents were so happy,” she said. “They encouraged me from the beginning to apply, and when we were accepted, we all celebrated together.”
Earlier in the year, those same families wrote a collective letter to Multnomah County Commissioners, describing how the program has changed their lives. “Preschool for All is not just a program; it is a promise,” they wrote. “In our community, free, culturally responsive preschool means parents can work, continue their education, and participate more fully in the economy.”
Building a School That Feels Like Home
Inside Magic Shapes, that promise takes tangible form. With space for 11 children, the program feels more like an extended family than a classroom. Parents talk to each other and Gaby, share ideas, and help shape the community. They celebrate birthdays and holidays together, hosting potlucks filled with foods from their home cultures and inviting performers to delight the kids.
“It’s important for families to feel like this is their place too,” Gaby said. “We build trust by being together face-to-face, not just through messages or papers.”
The Confidence to Grow
For families, the effects of Preschool for All are far-reaching. In their letter, parents from Magic Shapes wrote that their children are entering kindergarten more confident and prepared, with stronger language, social, and problem-solving skills. Parents feel less financial strain and more stability in their daily lives.
Affordable, reliable preschool has created space — space for parents to work, to study, to rest, and to plan. It has also created confidence. “When children know what to expect every day, they feel safe,” Gaby said. “And when families know they can count on us, they feel safe too.”
A Shared Future
For Gaby, becoming a Preschool for All provider is a turning point for her business, for her students, and for the community she serves. “It’s a magical moment. We’re educating children, but we’re also growing together as a community.”
The families at Magic Shapes agree. “Every child deserves the same strong start,” the parents wrote in their letter to County Commissioners. “Preschool for All is how we get there.”