How this new Raleigh center ‘equalizes the playing field’ for pre-K students
Bobby Aaron has his own cheering section each morning at the new Early Learning Center at Memory Road in Raleigh.
Preschool staff chant Bobby’s name as his mom’s car arrives in the carpool line. It’s that kind of love and attention that Annie Aaron says has made her 4-year-old son thrive at the Wake County school system’s new standalone pre-K center.
“I’ve cried happy tears,” Annie Aaron said in an interview Thursday. “I have just felt really overjoyed that we’ve been given the opportunity to be a part of this, because everyone at the center genuinely truly loves and cares about all the kids.”
Wake opens standalone pre-K center
The school system operates pre-K classrooms in elementary schools across the county, with the capacity to serve 3,576 students. But the Early Learning Center represents the district’s first effort to have a facility serving only pre-K students.
The Early Learning Center opened in September at a temporary space on Spring Forest Road in Raleigh. In November the center moved into its permanent home on the campus of Millbrook Elementary School, near the intersection of Millbrook and Falls of Neuse roads in Raleigh.
The location was picked because of the high concentration of preschool students who are eligible for the center’s services. The center serves Title I students — a federal program serving high-poverty schools — and special-education students.
“We were really trying to target an area that would serve the most families and students,” Dawn Dawson, senior director of Wake’s Office of Early Learning, said in an interview.
Dawson said the district may open other standalone pre-K centers in areas that have high need.
High demand for preschool slots
Demand is rising for preschool, especially for children who need special education services.
Since 2018-19, Wake says there has been an increase of over 30% for students ages 3-5 being identified and requiring preschool special education services. New referrals come in daily. Under federal law, Wake must provide preschool for special-education students.
The Early Learning Center has eight classrooms and the capacity to serve up to 132 students. Some classrooms serve only Title I students or special-education students. Other classes serve a mix of both groups.
The Wake County Board of Commissioners also funds the Wake ThreeSchool program, which provides preschool to low-income 3-year-olds. Dawson said they may add ThreeSchool slots to the Early Learning Center in the future.
Both the ThreeSchool and Early Learning Center have waiting lists of families who want to attend the free programs.
Preparing children for kindergarten
Having multiple classrooms allows more teachers and students to work together than at the schools with only one or two pre-K classes, according to Sherry Williams, director of the Early Learning Center.
“We just try to make it a happy time for kids because we know it’s tough for them transitioning, leaving their parents and having to come,” Williams said in an interview.
The goal of the program is to prepare children for kindergarten. It’s not only about teaching reading, math and motor skills to the children.
Dawson said they’re also teaching social-emotional skills that will help children throughout their school career.
“When you are disagreeing with another child about a toy, for example, what do you do?” Dawson said. “How do you use your words to problem solve and navigate that rather than getting angry or hitting?”
Aaron, the mother, said she’s seen both her son’s academic and social skills grow since he started attending the Early Learning Center.
“The benefits are just immeasurable,” Aaron. “He has so much joy when he gets to school and has learned so much.”
The value can’t be overstated, Aaron said, to be at location where the children have speech therapists, occupational therapists and all the other support staff needed to be at their best.
“It gives me a lot of hope for not only my child but for other children that are going to be entering preschool and entering the public school system in our county,” Aaron said.
“Students that don’t have the resources that other ones do, I think coming to the Early Learning Center equalizes the playing field for them and really makes it so that across the board the children across our county are ready for kindergarten.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2023 at 7:15 AM.
