Within our vibrant and diverse upper Manhattan community, Bloomingdale is bridging cultural and economic barriers to help neighborhood families get involved with the children at the Bloomingdale Head Start program. “When a family adopts a classroom, everyone benefits,” says Margot Heinlein, Bloomingdale’s Director of Development. “The visits of one family who come to read with a classroom of four-year-olds – bringing books which become part of the classroom library – have developed into a partnership with the independent school their children attend. Classroom visits now bring 4th graders as reading partners for Bloomingdale preschoolers, who in turn share their fluency as Spanish-speakers with their partner-class’s language learners. Another project grew out of the desire of a family’s teen-age daughter to share her love of literature by creating a book club for school-age children in our afterschool Homework Help program. The book club is growing in enrollment and ambition, and is becoming a permanent part of what we offer to children and families at Bloomingdale.”
Adopt-a-Classroom is individually tailored to a family’s goals for themselves and their children, as well as the needs of the program. “Families get involved when they make a tax-deductible contribution to the program, and then seek opportunities to create a meaningful experience for their own children,” Ms. Heinlein said. “In a diverse community like ours, Adopt-a-Classroom is a beautiful way both to give to this outstanding program for children and families, and to benefit in return.”
Families interested in adopting a Bloomingdale classroom can contact Margot Heinlein at mheinlein@bloomingdalefamilyprogram.org
Bloomingdale Family Program 
