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Gov. Attends Pre-K Opening ; South Valley Kids Start Classes At State-Funded Preschool Today

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

The playground beckoned for Sabrina Trujillo and her new preschool classmates Tuesday.

But their moms, a dad and at least one grandparent couldn't play with them just yet. They were getting a lesson on the importance of parental involvement from no less than Gov. Bill Richardson himself, who was there to celebrate the Youth Development Inc. opening of a new state-funded pre-kindergarten.

Classes at the YDI prekindergarten program start today in a former Head Start classroom.

"I'm thankful for the availability," Sabrina's mother, Maria Trujillo, told Richardson during a meeting under the playground shade structure. "... In the past, preschool could only be available to those who could afford it."

YDI officials said that when they applied for state funding for pre-kindergarten, they wanted to target future students of South Valley schools that have failed to meet state standards.

"We know that the demand is here," YDI president Chris Baca said.

One full-day Head Start class will still meet in the tiny building behind the Technical Vocational Institute's South Valley campus. The other will contain the half-day prekindergarten program.

YDI is running another state funded program at the Pedro Baca Head Start Center on Centro Familiar SW, and has moved two Head Start classrooms downtown to make way for the South Valley pre- kindergarten.

But there will be little difference in what is taught in the two classrooms.

YDI, which runs Head Starts citywide, says it will teach pre- kindergarten students the Head Start curriculum, which emphasizes parent participation along with the eight domains of learning, said YDI education manager Karl Garcia. Those domains are math, science, literacy, creative arts, language development, and social, emotional and physical approaches to learning.

"It's one of the best programs 'cause they learn a lot," said Lorena Medina, whose youngest child, Karina, will be in Head Start this year.

South Valley resident Kathy Bell-Pea said her eldest child went to a private preschool in the Northeast Heights, but she immediately sought one of the state-funded programs for her 4-year-old son, J.J.

"Private rates have gone up," Bell-Pea said.

Head Start families must meet federal poverty guidelines -- an income of about $19,000 for a family of four. YDI officials say now they can send those families who don't qualify for Head Start to the new state-funded preschool, which has no income restrictions. Debra Baca, YDI's vice president of early childhood programs, said she's been fielding calls from parents all over the city, but has told them the South Valley programs are restricted to the area residents. "This is where we want to focus," Baca said. "Your children will be better prepared for kindergarten than any in

the state of New Mexico." Kim Snipes said her older children attend Navajo Elementary, one of several South Valley schools where students are not meeting adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. "I'm hoping this will help stop that right now," said Snipes, whose daughter Amanda will start the Head Start program. Statewide, some 1,500 4-yearolds are enrolled in the new state-funded program, which includes 23 public schools in 11 districts and 31 schools run by private providers around the state.

Source: Albuquerque Journal

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