Dallas Has a Great Idea

Pre-K Center Build for Very Young Children

By VERONICA VILLEGAS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

When more than 400 of the littlest pupils in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district arrived at the new Pre-K Center for their first day of school this week, they discovered a facility designed and built just for them.

Large classrooms with big windows, a library with tiny tables and chairs, a special gross motor development room and even tot-size toilets are just a few of the amenities at the new early childhood center built on the campus of the district's Community Learning Complex.

The Pre-K Center at the Community Learning Complex, 1812 Pearl St. in Carrollton, serves children in northern Farmers Branch and southern Carrollton. Half-day sessions run from 7:50 to 10:50 a.m. and 12:05 to 3:05 p.m.

For information on enrollment at the Pre-K Center, call 972-968-6600.

For information about other classes and programs offered at the Community Learning Complex, call 972-968-6527.

"It's a space for 4-year-olds to do what 4-year-olds should do," said Charles Cole, assistant superintendent for Student, Family and Community Service. "Everything from 8 o'clock in the morning until 3 o'clock in the afternoon is geared around them."

The $5 million facility is the beginning of a plan to expand the school district's pre-kindergarten program, which is funded primarily with federal money, school officials said.

Those plans include extending the program to a full day instead of a half-day and building more specialized facilities to accommodate the expansion. The district already has pre-K classes at nine elementary campuses, and a second pre-K center is under construction north of the Bush Turnpike, school officials said.

The district expects to serve about 925 pre-kindergarten children this school year, and the demand grows every year, Dr. Cole said.

The program is available to children who primarily speak a language other than English in their home, meet the income guidelines for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program or are homeless.

"The philosophy is that these students need special, early attention in order to be ready for kindergarten and first grade," Dr. Cole said. "We want them, when they leave this program, to be at the same level as other students who have benefits and resources at home that they don't. Our goal is to equalize the playing field."

Eva Medina-Walker, the Pre-K Center's principal, said the new school – which offers six bilingual and six English as a second language classrooms – makes that job much easier.

"Everything here is geared just for them," she said. "We have really large classrooms that can handle all the centers – home living, dramatic play, computers, listening station, water and sand table, and circle time space – that these children need."

In addition to fine-tuning school readiness skills such as dexterity, fine and gross motor skills, and literacy, students also will be introduced to physical education.

"We want them to exercise," said Ms. Medina-Walker, who has a background in early childhood education and English as a second language programs. "What we want to do is provide the child with physical activity they might not get at home."

The gross motor development room provides the place for that to happen. With its special soft-surface flooring and equipment, students can run, jump, bounce and play to their heart's content, Ms. Medina-Walker said.

Families also are encouraged to get involved. The Pre-K Center is on the campus of the Community Learning Complex, at which parent education, English as a second language, citizenship and GED preparation classes are available.

Dr. Cole said he is proud of the new center because it gives first-time students and their families the best possible start.

school is going to be in a beautiful facility with caring teachers and an instructional program that addresses their needs," he said. "What better way to learn to love school?"

Veronica Villegas is a Fort Worth-based freelance writer.