The new Eastview Pre-K Center officially opened its doors Wednesday morning.
Marisa Muir, the principal for Eastview and Southview Preschool Center, said Eastview was supposed to only offer full-day schooling, but cuts to On My Way Pre-K, Indiana’s state-funded program that provides educational services for income-eligible families, have hampered those plans.
“We have had several bumps because, unfortunately, we had some state and federal funding cuts to On My Way Pre-K,” Muir said. “That affords our kiddos in the community to come here full day.
“With the delay and processing applications for that funding, until those families are approved, their kiddos are going to attend here half days.”
Muir said that in the near term, Eastview will have classrooms for full-day and half-day students.
“Once those kids are approved, then they will be coming here full day,” she said.
Despite the setback, Muir said the expansion of pre-K programming meets an important need. She said she is happy to “be able to offer high quality, developmentally appropriate pre-K to more children in Anderson.”
Eastview is located inside Anderson Intermediate School, but each school is partitioned from the other, with separate entrances and security.
Sarah Fuller decided to enroll her son, Ezra, at Eastview to familiarize him with an everyday educational routine.
“A lot of it is the convenience of how close (Eastview is),” Fuller said. “We actually live five minutes away from here. That’s a lot easier than going all the way over to Southview.
“Education wise, he’s not lacking right now,” she added. “His doctor said he’s actually advanced, but this is to make sure he’s not going to have this huge culture shock getting into a school situation when he starts kindergarten and first grade.”
Ann Rolston, the lead teacher at Eastview, said the staff was excited to welcome students to their new environment and help them get through the first day of school.
“We are really working on routines and procedures,” Rolston said. “Today is about getting the kids familiar with the schedule, just how to move from the classroom and transition to the other areas of the building they’ll be a part of for their meals, their rest time, their motor time.
“There’s lots of getting to know their classmates and their teacher, and read-alouds – just all kinds of introduction to school.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.