FORT SMITH (KFSM)-- The Fort Smith public school district has applied for a grant to add 80 new spots in the pre-school program.
Sarah Biggs, the supervisor of early children education in Fort Smith, said the district needs to expand the program in an effort to reach so many of the children under the age of five in the district.
“Currently there are still approximately 500 children that are not being served in a high quality pre-school program,” Biggs said.
Biggs said the 80 spots will be spread between four different elementary schools, which will allow 17 of the 19 elementary schools in the district to have a pre-k program.
“We want to provide an opportunity for the children who are in the attendance area of Beard, Cavanaugh, Bonneville and Euper Lane to be able to attend their neighborhood school,” Biggs said. “That's important to us, so that they start their educational process in pre-school at their home school.”
Last year the school district added 140 spots to the pre-k program, but there still wasn't enough room to serve all of the children who were enrolling
Morrison Elementary added a third pre-k classroom because of that expansion.
“We serve an additional 20 students, so 60 students total, and they get to come and learn about school, and get to know our school procedures and therefore be ready for kindergarten,” Morrison Elementary principal Susan Boone said.
Boone said growing the pre-k program will help younger students adjust to being in a classroom.
“Start students early on with those reading skills math skills social skills, so important, and to be able to offer those throughout the district is a bonus for everyone,” Boone said.
The district will find out if it will receive the grant in early May.
Pre-school registration for the Fort Smith public school district though starts Monday (April 4) at 8 a.m. at the Parker Center at 811 North T St.