A crowd of parents, students, teachers and other community members gathered at both n elementary schools Monday to celebrate the completion of the new preschools and community centers.
A $79 million bond overwhelmingly passed in 2021 supported the construction of the preschools and community centers.
The preschool expansion added four classrooms. The program can now enroll 225 students, an increase of 70 spots. The 4-year-old program this year will also be five days a week and an afterschool program is available.
The new preschool areas look very similar; they each have six classrooms, small group learning areas for things like music classes or meeting with an aide, a dedicated space for therapists for things like speech therapy and a small multi-purpose gym area.
The classrooms and small group areas all have large windows. Whitney Ward with VCBO Architecture, the organization that designed the preschools, said this is intentional.
“The windows into the classroom allow for the students to engage with what's happening outside of the classroom, but also for folks to make sure that what's happening in the classroom is appropriate,” she said.
Both schools also have a new community center with a meeting space and a kitchen. There is also a new bathroom design. The ungendered bathroom area is open concept so anyone can see into the sink area. However, each bathroom stall is its own lockable room for increased privacy.
Ward said the open sink area helps teachers and staff keep students safe and on task.
One difference between the preschools is designs containing each school’s mascot; Jeremy Ranch features hawks in its murals while McPolin features moose.
Nika Tan and her son visited McPolin Elementary Monday to see his new classroom. Tan said her son has already benefited from preschool programs at the school. He started in the early intervention 3-year-old program in December.
“At first, he doesn't know how to talk actually, but then when he started, he just read the whole sentence right away after that,” she said. “So it's really good for his development.”
The program has also helped Tan’s son be more comfortable interacting with other kids. This year he will be in the 4-year-old class.
Alejandra Hyer and her son were at Jeremy Ranch Elementary Monday to check out the new preschool and meet his teacher. Hyer’s son is in the 4-year-old program at the school.
“I love the new building, it's all nice and new,” she said. “We're very happy that the program expanded so it wasn't a big issue for us to get in.”
The district admits preschool students through a lottery. Only students in district boundaries can enroll.
