Joplin School District introduces free preschool program for local families
JOPLIN, Mo. — A new early childhood development program is coming to the Joplin School District.
Joplin Schools administrators announced on Tuesday, beginning in the fall, there will be new preschool classrooms in three elementary school buildings, providing free care and pre-K education for local families.
Irving Elementary, Soaring Heights – and Royal Heights will host the new pilot neighborhood pre-K classes.
“Half of our kindergarteners right now are coming to us with no preschool experience and so we know that is a need in this community. Jasper County is a childcare desert – there is just not enough places for families to send their children when they are looking for something,” said Dr. Jordan Dickey, Joplin Schools Executive Director of Student Services.
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16 four-year-old students will be allowed into the program, at each school, with enrollment starting immediately and only being available to residents in those specific attendance zones.
Royal Heights Elementary Principal, Bre Faircloth, has already enrolled her son in the program.
“When you get down to it, and you start working with teachers here in Joplin Schools, you realize that we really do have the best people put in place to take care of a lot of our students. It was absolutely a no-brainer, for my own son, and for anybody else’s student that would be interested in it,” said Bre Faircloth, Royal Heights Elementary Principal.
And what will this “pilot neighborhood pre-K” — look like?
“They can expect to come to school, eat their breakfast and experience a full school day, much like their older siblings or what they will experience once they hit Kindergarten. Still having a nap-time, maybe some specials thrown in there, but really getting a quality preschool experience, to where they are getting social skills but also academics,” said Dickey.
Enrollment instructions can be found on the Joplin School’s website, which you can find, here.
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