SPRINGDALE — Expansion of the School District’s prekindergarten program will allow 100 children from homes below the poverty line to get a head start on an education that could change their lives, officials said.
The additional 3- and 4-year-olds will be added over the next three years, said Darlene Fleeman, principal of the Early Childhood Center. There are 300 children on the waiting list for the program. Children in the program are from lower income families.
Prekindergarten helps level the playing field for some children who may not have the same experiences as children from more affluent backgrounds, Fleeman said.
By The Numbers
Preschool Enrollment 2013-2014 School Year
Springdale School District — 840
Rogers School District — 340
Bentonville School District — 310
Fayetteville School District —120
Source: Staff Report
Children who go to preschool are more likely to succeed in school, said Laura Kellams, Northwest Arkansas director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. They are more likely to read on grade level by third grade and more likely to graduate from high school on time.
“The more kids are prepared to learn, the better off the district will be, and the better off the community will be,” she said.
Children who go to preschool have better social skills, said Kathy Morledge, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning grades preschool through seventh grade. By the time they get to kindergarten, they already know how to sit still and stand in line.
Preschool also helps children who are learning English, but speak another language at home, Kellams said. Children in Springdale’s preschool program practice speaking English by talking to their classmates and teachers, Morledge said. Sixty-four percent of preschool parents in the district’s program have reported that a language other than English is primarily spoken at home.
An increased number of children in preschool also helps the economy, Kellams said. The state saves $9 for every $1 officials commit to preschool programs, because children who go to preschool are less likely to commit a crime or end up in foster care.
Preschool classes in Springdale are located at the Early Childhood Center on Thompson Street and at 12 schools throughout the district, Fleeman said. Twelve new classes were started this year to accommodate an increase in students. The classes this year are at at Shaw, Westwood, Tyson, Sonora and Bayyari elementary schools and J.O. Kelly Middle School, she said.
District officials plan to add two preschool classes to the program this fall, two more in fall 2015 and a fifth class in fall 2016, Fleeman said. Each class will have 20 students. Fleeman said she doesn’t know yet where the five new classrooms will be because officials are discussing the plans with principals at various schools.
Officials also plan to renovate a building in fall 2016 to become a second early childhood center, Morledge said. Officials have not yet found a building to renovate. They don’t know how many classes the new center will house or whether they will lease or buy a building.
Expansion of the program and renovations for a new center will be paid for with money from the Race to the Top Grant the district received in December from the U.S. Department of Education, Morledge said. According to grant paperwork, $1,866,786 from the grant will be used to pay for the program expansion. The district received $25,878,038 from the grant.
The second center will be paid for by $1.1 million of the grant, Morledge said, including any expenses from renovations, leases or purchases.
The prekindergarten program in Springdale gets most of its money through grants from the Arkansas Better Chance Program, which is part of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Fleeman said. The district receives more than $3 million in grants from the program each year, and must provide a 40 percent match, or about $1.2 million.
The grant money from the state paid for three and one-half classes this year, Fleeman said.
Springdale’s prekindergarten program also has a grant from the 21st Century Community Learning Center, a program of the U.S. Department of Education, Fleeman said. The grant provides $500,000 over five years and helps pay for one class in the program. The preschool program is in its fourth year of the grant, she said.
The preschool program also received a grant of $845,535 for this school year from the Child Care Development Fund through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fleeman said. The money is paying for nine and one-half classes this year.
Between 2007 and 2011, 21.3 percent of people in Springdale were below the poverty level, according to the U.S. Census website. A family of three has to earn $19,790 or less to be at the poverty level, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.
At A Glance
Benefits Of Preschool
More likely to read on grade level by third grade.
More likely to graduate on time from high school.
More likely to have necessary social skills when entering kindergarten.
Less likely to commit a crime.
Less likely to end up in foster care.
Source: Staff Report
A family or three would have to earn double that, $39,580, or less to qualify for preschool classes paid for with grant money from the Arkansas Better Chance Program. The same family of three would have to earn $36,611.50, or less, to qualify for preschool classes paid for with grant money from the Child Care Development Fund.
Public preschool programs help families when they don’t make enough money to pay for tuition-based preschool, Kellams said. Paying for tuition can be like a mortgage payment for some families, she said.
Officials will look for a way to increase the amount of money they receive from the Arkansas Better Chance Program to pay for the new classrooms long term and pay for future expansions of the program, Morledge said. There are 840 children enrolled in preschool this year. The program needs to meet the needs of at least 1,200 children.
Officials have no plans to increase the size of preschool programs in Fayetteville, Rogers and Bentonville. Fayetteville’s programs won’t expand because of a lack of available money, officials said.
Rogers’ program won’t expand next school year, because enrollment has been steady with a small waiting list, said Ashley Siwiec, district communications director. After enrollment in April, officials will evaluate the need for more classes.
The Bentonville School District has three preschool programs, said Deb Kee, director of early childhood for the district. Two of the programs are paid for with grants and the third is tuition-based. Officials have no plans to expand because of a lack of space.