Educators say there's no shortage of benefits to enrolling young children in pre-K programs.
"They learn to separate from mom, dad, grandma, others in the family," said Dr. Connie Spence, principal of the Kooken Education Center, which oversees Arlington ISD's pre-K programs. "They learn to take care of their own needs and to communicate their needs."
And in Arlington, there has been no shortage of interest in pre-K classes. But because they're only offered in three-hour, half-day blocks, many families aren't able to take advantage of them.
"It's really hard to pick-up and drop-off in a three-hour window," said Ashley Auces, an Arlington ISD pre-K teacher.
After studying the issue, district officials said they realized many parents found it more convenient to send their 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds to day care all day versus school for half a day. Starting this year, the district is partnering with seven day care centers in Arlington to offer pre-K classes at those locations.
The students will spend half the day with a state certified Arlington ISD teacher and the other half in traditional day care.
"When you have all those parents that work all day, they can take their kids into pre-K and not worry about the three-hour pickup," said Auces.
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Spence said early response from parents has been very positive.
"People value early education," said Spence. "They really do. They want their kids to be school ready. They want them to be successful and ready for kindergarten."
The kids seem to like it as well.
The Arlington ISD website has more information about its pre-K programs.
