Visit from Ronald McDonald!   News Sentinel Newspaper, Fort Wayne IN! Preschool to focus on students' special needsKids will get more one-on-one time with teacher. Founder Janice Anne Cook plans to open Simply Speaking Comprehensive Learning Center preschool by June 1, with classes beginning June 14. Where: 12912 Coldwater Road, Suite A (across from Perry Hill and Oak View elementary schools) When: Classes roughly 2 1/2 hours long will be offered morning and afternoon Telephone: 417-9443   Website: www.simplyspeakinglearningcenter.com  of The News-SentinelJanice Anne Cook is starting a preschool with a particular mission: helping children with special needs. Her “Simply Speaking Comprehensive Learning Center” will open for business by June 1. Her first classes are scheduled to begin June 14 at the facility on Coldwater Road, across from Perry Hill and Oak View elementary schools. The new preschool will be geared toward students with mild developmental disabilities, such as high-functioning autism, sensory integration or fine-motor-skills difficulty, or speech and language delays. “I’ll be giving the child a typical preschool class, but we add a few extras, such as more one-on-one time with the teacher,” she said. For now, Cook, 40, will be the only teacher. But class sizes will be small, limited to no more than seven children. She promises to develop a “student education plan” for each preschooler, identifying strengths and weaknesses in the child’s development and planning a strategy for improving the child’s abilities. For Cook, who has a degree from IPFW in early childhood education, helping children with developmental challenges has become deeply personal for her. She has two sons, one with autism, the other with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She’s aiming for a particular niche, one she’s explored in previous work teaching preschool: children with development difficulties, but difficulties that aren’t severe enough to make them eligible for pre-K special education through school districts. Parents of children who’ve “graduated” from pre-K special education often still see their children need more help than they might get from being in a conventional class. That’s where Cook plans to come in. “Sometimes kids just aren’t ready to jump in,” she said. As she describes the preschool on its website, “I have always wanted to have a place where children can come and feel comfortable, learn in a small class size, and leave each day feeling good about who they are.” She said she sees off each child by saying, “You are important. I want you to feel good about yourself.”