ELLETTSVILLE — Edgewood Schools sees pre-kindergarten as a necessity for young children. It is investing big in its belief so every child in Ellettsville can have the opportunity to attend.
The school district is currently building a $12 million expansion to its early childhood education center, which is slated to open for the 2025-2026 school year. It is paid for with bonds and the center will grow from four classrooms to nine.
Nearly a hundred children currently attend pre-K classes with Edgewood, but the district reports just as many are on the waiting list to get in.
"We open registration at the beginning of March and it can sometimes fill up within an hour of that first day," said Edgewood Early Childhood Center director Heather Kensek.
Edgewood Schools superintendent Jerry Sanders said the difference pre-K education makes for students is noticeable in his eyes.
"When I was a principal, I used to be able to walk around our kindergarten classroom," Sanders said. "I could quickly identify those who have had pre-K opportunities and those who have not."
Indiana has emphasized the importance of pre-K education in recent years. The state's Family and Social Services Administration has awarded On My Way Pre-K vouchers since 2014 so lower income students can attend pre-K.
Its most recent report from October 2022 shows it awarded nearly 5,000 grants across the state that year.
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Chris Lacey is raising a one-year-old and a three-year-old in Ellettsville. He said he plans to take them out of private day care and enroll them in Edgewood for this upcoming school year.
"I have a lot of faith in the administration that they're going to do a great job preparing our kids for kindergarten," Lacey said. "The more families that get involved in pre-K the better, because definitely have a growing community here."
"I always like to relate starting school as starting the biggest race of your life," Sanders said. "If you can think about in that race, seeing others have an advantage you don't have, how unfair that would be."
