In the pre-school room under the watchful eyes of Sister Clarinda Idea, three-year-olds Julian Martinez, Miranda Romero and Diego Muņoz were busy working away at a workbench. Miranda had an orange plastic drill in her hand, which she passed to Julian, who had grow weary of hammering. Diego, meanwhile, was sawing away like a beaver.

Next the Franciscan Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Conception invited her young charges to sit on a nearby rug with colored numbers, where she played a couple of catchy sing-a-long tunes on an acoustic guitar. Then it was off to a long, low table to play with - what else? - Playdough.

"What color is this?" Sister Idea asked, holding up some gooey dough.

"Green," Miranda called out.

"That's right!" Then the young woman religious turned to Diego, who had started to whimper. "Pretty soon we'll be going outside to play."

The boy's homesick tears momentarily stopped flowing. "Outside to play!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," the teacher said, "but we have to clean up first."

First day in class
Monday, Jan. 5, was opening day for San Antonio de Padua Academy Pre-School in Boyle Heights.

Everything looked - and smelled - brand new in the four-classroom concrete structure. Besides the workbench and Playdough table and chairs, the pre-school room had wood bookcases and shelves scattered about. There was also a "Home Living Center" with a wood stove, sink and cabinets. Nearby, construction, nurse, police and baseball caps were stacked on shelves, just waiting to be worn in mind-enriching imaginary games.

Two large pre-kindergarten rooms for four-years were also fully furnished, although only one was currently being used. It had lots of natural light from a glass-cube side wall. On sturdy tables stood containers of different colored crayons, along with other schools supplies.

There was a "Community Center" right in the middle of the room, and the walls were carefully decorated with balloon faces, days of the week, plus letters and numbers. But what really caught the eye was a cozy reading corner students entered through a neat wood arch. Padded small chairs were surrounded by books begging to be read.

These rooms - including one that's temporarily being used as an office but will become another classroom to raise the maximum enrollment to 80 - are off a center stone walkway. At one end is a growing garden of shrubs and plants, while the other opens to an outdoor covered lunch area, made up of round green tables with attached purple, yellow, red and blue seats.

Nearby is a state-of-the-art playground with crawl-through tubes, curvy slides and a safe, speckled rubber floor. Beyond is the asphalt yard of San Antonio de Padua School, which closed a few years ago because of declining enrollment.

Walking back from a classroom visit to her office, Sister Magdalena Acuna, director of the new pre-school, was wearing a ready smile along with her long brown Franciscan habit. "Thanks be to God for all the donors," she said. "They were so generous. They wanted this as a gift to the community - early childhood education."

(Major donors included The Shea Foundation, which provided funds to construct the building, while The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation paid for furniture and educational materials. In addition, The Almanson Foundation funded the renovation of the old elementary school for parent-education classes.)

The seasoned educator, who was principal for many years at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Santa Clarita, points out that her new assignment is an inter-parochial pre-school, serving as a "feeder" to St. Mary, Assumption, Our Lady of Talpa and other eastside Catholic schools.

The Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception own and operate their own pre-school, Poverello of Assisi (in Sylmar), where Sister Acuna worked for nine years. So she's seen firsthand how early education helps children as they enter traditional kindergarten.

"They go in with a little bit more confidence and a bit more knowledge as to the routine of school and what's to be expected," she said. "You know, children are like little sponges. They learn and catch on right away. And pre-school is a good starting point for children to have as part of their education."

Sister Acuna stresses that early education is especially crucial for economically disadvantaged and minority young boys and girls. Why? Because poor families are more likely to lack many of the educational benefits that middle-class families take for granted today, such as storybooks in the home and parents who have the time to read them to their children.

Besides Sisters Acuna and Idea, three other members of the Franciscan religious community staff the new pre-school: Sisters Irma Padilla, Laticia Villegas and Ilumimada Garcia.

Starting earlier
Julia Aguayo brought her three-year-old son to the new pre-school opening day. Looking down at Julian, she explained why. "He's going to learn and do better when he goes to school," the mother said. "The classroom is beautiful with a lot of toys and stuff that will help young kids learn more. He is my third child, and the others didn't go until kinder. And then I said he has to start earlier. It's going to help him."

On the first day of school, Gregory Gonzales was in the pre-kinder classroom, rocking back and forth in a cushioned chair. He hopes to really learn his ABCs so he can read better. He's already checked out some of the books on the shelves and likes the one with the pig on the cover.

When asked how his morning had gone so far, the four-year-old's face took on a knowing look. "It's fun," he said matter of factly. "Learning at school is fun."

Miranda Romero, hammering away back at the workbench in her pre-school classroom, thought it was pretty neat, too. Picking up a plastic plainer, she asked, "What's that?" Then she pulled out the yellow tape from a tape measure and closely examined a wrench before going back to hammering.

"I like the singing," Miranda observed, "but I want to fix stuff right now."