Oak Park Neighborhood For Learning has expanded its services for children and families.

Extended care for preschool children attending the school is now available, director Kim Gregorchuk said.

The preschool, for children ages 2 years and 9 months through 5 years, is on the campus of Oak Hills Elementary School.

Parents will have the option of keeping their children at the school an extra three hours per day. Ordinarily the school operates from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Extended hours allows parents to drop children off at school at 8 a.m. and pick them up at 3 p.m.

“There was a demand (for longer days) just due to the economy,” Gregorchuk said. “Parents are taking on part-time jobs and need a little extra time.”

New programs have been added to the school for parents and younger children. The school is offering a childbirth preparation class, an infant massage class, a yoga class for parents and their toddlers and a “Toddler & Me” play class.

Brenda Hunter, a licensed social worker and certified infant massage therapist who has been conducting parent education classes for 30 years, has joined the school as an infant and parenting specialist. Gregorchuk said Hunter will help improve the health and well-being of parents and children by helping them “function more positively within the family unit.”

Gregorchuk said the infant massage class is for mothers and their babies up to 6 months old.

“It’s kind of a support group for new moms, a way for them to connect and bond with their babies,” she said.

Gregorchuk said that massage has been known to ease colic in babies and helps with infant digestive systems while creating more productive sleep patterns.

Oak Park Neighborhood For Learning is a part of the Oak Park Unified School District but is partially funded through Ventura County’s First 5 program, which offers resources for children from infancy through age 5. Gregorchuk said the school is a collaborative of community members, business owners, educators and parents.

For more information, call (818) 707-7742 or visit www.first5ventura.org/nfl/oakpark.