Follow along to see the critical thinking skills and active learning built into each step of the day.
Are you looking for affordable, family-friendly activities for the summer?
Continue reading
The Parent Café was already buzzing with new families talking with enrollment team members and registering their 4-year-olds for the 2022-2023 school year. You could hear the excitement in the children’s voices as they spoke to their parents and wandered around, smiling at new faces or sitting down on the couch with a cautious enthusiasm to share a book with another child.
And as of May 9, Pre-K 4 SA has opened enrollment for 3-year-olds too. When the news reached one of the families in the Parent Café, both the mom and little boys smiled and clapped together, knowing they could enroll both children.
Research indicates 90% of brain development occurs before the age of five. This is when the foundations of language, social, and emotional growth, key factors in future academic success, are created and developed.
“We know that one year of high-quality early learning has demonstrated proven long-term success for children,” Pre-K 4 SA CEO Sarah Baray said. “National research indicates that two years of pre-k is exponentially better and has immediate, short term and long-term benefits to children, families, and the community. And we are seeing a need for access for 3-year-olds, especially coming out of the pandemic.”
Pre-K 4 SA also saw a need to help San Antonio’s working, middle-class families who may need financial support but do not already qualify for free, high-quality pre-K through Texas Education Agency (TEA) guidelines. Families can receive additional tuition assistance through its expanded scholarship structure, which now provides free pre-K to those families making up to $75,000. Families can easily determine their personal investment in their child’s learning at Pre-K 4 SA by accessing the scholarship calculator.
Brenda Rosas has three boys who attended Pre-K 4 SA. She feels her children were better prepared for elementary school than their peers.
“Pre-K 4 SA gives them a great head start to their education,” said Rosas. “I have an ongoing joke with the family liaison where I wish my children could have been here another year. The benefits are tremendous – they are prepared for elementary and beyond. And an extra year would have been great to give them the extra one-on-one time with the teacher but also help them thrive.”
Mrs. Rosas has seen the positive impact on high-quality early learning for all three of her boys. She believes her children are not only prepared more academically, but she has also seen social and emotional development of her children, which has helped her oldest son, who is now in middle school.
At Pre-K 4 SA, we understand that family members are a child’s first and most important teachers. Learning is collaborative and extends far beyond the classroom. Now, the same teachers, children, and families will work together for two years allowing for deeper learning and development both in and out of the classroom.
Just like our 4-year-olds, the 3-year-olds will receive the same benefits from Pre-K 4 SA, such as transportation with the 5-point safety harness, nutritious family-style meals and snacks, as well as access to extended-day care for our working families. We offer integrated, full inclusion classrooms with both 3- and 4-year-olds. This will help older children develop better leadership skills while the younger students learn from their interactions.
Opening enrollment to 3- and 4-year-olds and expanding the scholarship structure is part of Pre-K 4 SA’s commitment to providing high-quality, research-based early education that empowers children at a critical age for school and life success. To learn more about enrollment, please call 210-206-PREK or apply online. An enrollment specialist is available to answer any questions and support our families throughout the application and enrollment process.
When Covid-19 shut the world down, millions of families no longer had a Child Care Center open to care for their children. As a result, many families turned to smaller, private family child care providers for assistance. Family child care providers already outnumbered Child Development Centers in the number of children served, and in the shadows of shelter in place, social distancing, and quarantine, they rose to the challenges facing the entire world by keeping their doors open for even more children.
Continue reading
For the last eight years, Pre-K 4 SA’s 4-year-olds have inspired local artists to create quality art pieces to benefit nonprofit initiatives.
At Pre-K 4 SA, through an innovative curriculum-driven program called Gracias San Antonio: Children Are Citizens, 4-year-olds are learning how to become civic-minded individuals; and they love every moment of supporting the community, creating art, and learning about local nonprofits. Gracias San Antonio is grounded in the belief that children are not just future citizens, but also are citizens of the city in the here and now, with the right to express their opinions and participate in the civic and cultural life of San Antonio.
“This is my eighth year with Pre-K 4 SA, and I feel Gracias gets better every year! It’s such an awesome event that allows our students to work alongside some of San Antonio’s best artists,” said Stephanie Flores, East Center master teacher.
Since 2013, Gracias San Antonio has raised more than $33,000 for the following nonprofits: Good Samaritan Community Services, San Antonio Humane Society, Any Baby Can of San Antonio, Children’s Shelter, Child Safe, St. Pj’s Children’s Home, and Therapy Animals of San Antonio.
Gracias San Antonio is a six-month project where children have the opportunity to vote for a nonprofit, explore the best of San Antonio’s landmarks, and bring their inspirations to life through art right in their classrooms.
Every year, in November, Pre-K 4 SA children vote in a school-wide election to select a nonprofit organization the children learn about and support throughout the year. On election day—scheduled on the same day as the actual election—Pre-K 4 SA’s Parent Cafés are transformed into mock-up voting polls. American flags and red, white, and blue streamers adorn the voting polls, and children one-by-one cast their vote as they choose their nonprofit of choice. Also, Pre-K 4 SA children, families, and staff participate in volunteer opportunities with the nonprofit.
In December, teachers invite children and their families to engage in City Explorations around San Antonio to help children learn about their city. San Antonio becomes the classroom and the children the explorers as they visit local parks, historic city sites, art exhibits, monuments, and local establishments. These explorations serve for children to gain ideas and inspiration for their art collaborations with their classroom artists.
In January and February, the art creation process begins. Pre-K 4 SA strongly believes that by engaging students in art experiences at a young age, children more deeply develop their thinking and creativity, learning to express themselves. Therefore, local artists join children in the classroom to create authentic art pieces using a variety of artistic mediums to express the children’s perspective of their city and the places they visit and explore. More than 100 art pieces are then displayed in a public gallery exhibit in April and auctioned to raise money for the selected nonprofit organization.
“Their own fearless creativity inspires me to create an art piece. As adults, we get used to being told, ‘this won’t work’ or ‘it has to be done this way’ that we hold our own creativity back. Kids don’t buy into that. Their imagination allows them to think outside of the box,” said Mary Klonek-Reyes, local San Antonio artist and returning Gracias volunteer. “I love how energetic and excited the kids get to learn new techniques and use new tools. Anything you teach a child has the ability to breathe new meaning into their existence, to open their eyes to new possibilities and new ways of thinking and feeling.”
The THRU Project was selected by children and their families as the 2021-2022 school year beneficiary nonprofit. Their mission is to help foster youth overcome the challenges of growing up in a foster care system by providing guidance, support, and advocacy to prepare them for life after foster care.
“The THRU Project team was thrilled to be selected as this year’s Gracias Project beneficiary by the youth and families at Pre-K 4 SA,” said Courtney Laverty, CFRE and CEO of THRU Project. “This partnership will enable us to provide mentors, life skills training and housing for current foster youth and those who have aged out. Thank you for helping to bridge the gap between foster care and adulthood!”
As the world becomes increasingly more globalized and connected, knowledge of ourselves as individual learners and as members of a community becomes more important. Through Gracias San Antonio children have the opportunity to become active contributors within their community in order to make their city a better place to work, play, and live.
Stay connected to Pre-K 4 SA’s social media platforms to find out more about our Gracias San Antonio yearly activities and to be the first one to know when the 2021-2022 Gracias San Antonio Online Art Auction opens.
We are proud to announce that Pre-K 4 SA’s Professional Learning Department has been granted the prestigious CDA Gold Standard designation.
Professional Learning provides educators with high-quality support and credentialing programs so they can in turn provide a high-quality early education. This nationally recognized CDA designation serves as validation of the work Pre-K 4 SA does to deliver on the promise of creating positive systemic change.
“I was proud to have our CDA program nationally recognized for its high-quality,” said Kristina Herrera, Pre-K 4 SA assistant director of professional learning. “We are motivated to increase the quality of all early childhood programs throughout San Antonio, and the CDA is one way we are building staff qualifications in child care centers and programs.”
The CDA Gold Standard is part of the Council for Professional Recognition early childhood education effort to help CDA students find the high-quality training and student services they need in preparation for the CDA exam and a career as an early childhood educator. Having a CDA doesn’t just help educators bring out the best in children. Its purpose is to expand the knowledge base, experience, and quality of early childhood educators and is meant to be a stepping stone on the path of career advancement in education.
Earning the CDA Gold Standard is recognition that Pre-K 4 SA successfully demonstrates that its early childhood education training is based on the Council’s three industry-leading principles of 1) Alignment with the CDA formal education coursework found in the CDA’s Eight Subject areas, 2) Sound business policies and practices, and 3) Quality student services that meet their educational and professional needs.
In addition to offering high-quality training, Pre-K 4 SA demonstrates evidence that they serve the CDA student community with excellence, which includes professional development that prepares students for successful completion of their training program.
Pre-K 4 SA’s CDA credentialing program is dedicated to working with all of its participants to ensure everyone is prepared to pass the CDA exam and begin a successful career in high-quality early education. Therefore, Pre-K 4 SA provides the following for all participants:
Recently reauthorized Pre-K 4 SA is determined to strengthen San Antonio’s early learning infrastructure to create an equitable, affordable, high-quality early learning and care system for young children for the next eight years. With the CDA Gold Standard program, the Pre-K 4 SA Professional Learning team will continue increasing the number of qualified early learning educators throughout San Antonio.
To find out more about Pre-K 4 SA CDA program and its requirements, you can join KickUp to gain access and register for the CDA sessions, click here. Or, reach out to Kristina.herrera@sanantonio.gov if you have additional questions.
A child’s first day of Pre-K can bring a flood of emotions for parents and children.
Continue reading
The 2020-2021 Pre-K SA Cohort completed their last day of school on Thursday, May 27 with an End of Year Parade. Families celebrated by decorating their cars in order to pick up their children at Pre-K 4 SA Education Centers and celebrate the work accomplished over the course of the school year.
As children waited for their parents to pass through the parade, they cheered and danced. One by one they collected their summer goody bags which included books, class photos, and their Pre-K 4 SA Certificate of Completion. Additionally, the San Antonio Food Bank along with H-E-B gave all of Pre-K 4 SA families a summer produce bag to start the summer with healthy food choices.
However, the 2020-2021 academic year didn’t start in such a positive manner. There was so much uncertainty about even starting a new school year with the rise of local and national COVID-19 cases. And, many parents were unsure about allowing their children to attend in-person classes.
In an effort to create options for families, Pre-K 4 SA, for the very first time, offered a remote learning track along with the traditional in-person option. This allowed parents to feel more at ease as they decided on the best option for their child’s education.
Additionally, Pre-K 4 SA worked with city leaders, health experts and their own guiding physicians to implement protocols that went above and beyond minimum standards in order to allow them to both have in-person classes and keep children, families and staff safe.
Before the 2020-2021 academic year began, the Pre-K 4 SA leadership and staff worked earnestly to make the appropriate retrofits to all of their Education Centers. Additionally, the creation of new procedures and protocols were set into place to keep all staff and children safe. More than 100 new comprehensive safety procedures and protocols were implemented as a reactive approach to keep others safe from confirmed COVID-19 cases.
At the same time, the Operations team installed over 1,870 touchless devices which helped tremendously decrease the spread of germs in high-contact surfaces. These devices included touchless sinks, doors, and paper towel dispensers. Each Center also received touchless thermometer stations which quickly allowed temperature checks for staff. The cost of all of these retrofits and improvements came out to approximately $900,000. These measures were necessary to fulfill Pre-K 4 SA’s commitment to ensure the health and safety of its children, families, and staff.
Additionally, at that given time, the guidance on COVID-19 suggested the virus could spread through airborne transmission. To prevent this from happening, the HVAC systems at all four Education Centers were adjusted to bring more fresh air into the classrooms by adding higher grade air filters to capture germs.
Fortunately, all these retrofits and new safety protocols were effective to keep the 2020-2021 Cohort safe throughout the entire year. Pre-K 4 SA’s Leadership team is thankful to see how everyone worked together and as a team throughout the entire academic year to conclude successfully.
Now, as Pre-K 4 SA personnel looks to return to in-person classes for the 2021-2022 academic year, some safety and wellness protocols will still be in place. Curbside drop-off and pick-up will remain as an option for families. The use of touchless sinks and water fountains, and daily temperature scans will help prevent the spread of infections such as colds, flu, and strep, which is vital to keep children in school actively engaged in learning. These protocols will contribute to the year-round health of Pre-K 4 SA’s students, families, and staff.
February is upon us, which means it is time to start enrolling for the 2021-22 school year!
Continue reading
“Now that the election is behind us, I wanted to send my sincere thanks to all of you for supporting and believing in us. Our families are a huge part of the Pre-K 4 SA success story.
Over the last eight years, Pre-K 4 SA has benefitted over 450,000 children. We could not have done that without the help of our families. We are humbled by your support and enthusiasm, and we look forward to continuing to work with you to serve even more of San Antonio’s children and families.”
I recently reached out to all of our current and alumni families to thank them for their support during the first eight years of Pre-K 4 SA. I would like to take this time to also thank the campaign, Pre-K 4 SA Board, City Leadership, Early Matters, our District and Community Partners, and most importantly our educators, staff, and the citizens of San Antonio.
Since the inception of Pre-K 4 SA, we have accomplished many milestones for our children and their families, as well as for the entire community. However, there is much more work to be done. We intend to continue working to ensure every young child in San Antonio has access to affordable, high-quality early learning and care. This means continuing to work with our partners in child care centers, schools, and community programs to build a strong early learning and care infrastructure.
Over the next few years, Pre-K 4 SA will work with partner programs to expand access to high-quality prekindergarten so that every family with a four-year-old has a place to enroll if they choose to. Here’s how we plan to do that.
1. Pre-K 4 SA Education Centers will continue to serve 2,000 children. We will expand eligibility so the program is free, not only for those that qualify based on state guidelines, but also for middle class families with annual earnings up to $65,000.
2. Public Schools will continue to serve 13,500 children who are eligible for free prekindergarten based on state guidelines. Pre-K 4 SA will provide professional learning and grants to support districts in serving an additional 1,500 children in middle class families with annual earnings up to $65,000.
3. Child Development Centers and Private/Parochial Schools will serve up to 5,000 families. Pre-K 4 SA will provide professional learning and grants to help ensure these programs meet national early learning quality standards, too.
4. Finally, Home-Based Providers will serve the remaining four-year-olds, as some families think home is the best place for young children. Supporting young children who are learning in home settings has been a goal of Pre-K 4 SA for some time. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to close our centers and develop a remote learning program, we realized we could use this approach to support home-based programs. With the help of our outstanding teaching staff, we have developed a remote learning curriculum and launched our very own Online Resource Center which is available in English and Spanish to the entire community. Through distance learning, we also offer our parents specialized workshops and children have the option to become part of a virtual class. This new innovative option of home-based distance learning has opened the door to an additional 2,000 children.
In addition to ensuring all 25,000 four-year-olds have access to high-quality prekindergarten, Pre-K 4 SA is committed to improving both quality and access for children younger than four. According to the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University, young children develop 1 million brain synapses every second in the first few years of life. That means the earlier we start supporting young children and their families, the better off they will be and the more likely they will grow into healthy, happy, productive adults. Pre-K 4 SA is ready to do our part to continue creating a bright future for our children, families, and community!
Written by: Sarah Baray, Pre-K 4 SA CEO
In 2012 when Pre-K 4 SA was on the ballot for the first time, the program was little more than a well-researched, innovative idea. Many wondered whether the city had the capacity to oversee an early education program and whether this new program would be discernibly different from existing programs. Some questioned how one year of prekindergarten could actually make a lasting difference for children, no matter how good the program. It speaks volumes about who San Antonio is as a community that even with these questions, the community said “Yes” to investing in our youngest learners.
Eight years later, Pre-K 4 SA has proven its worth and San Antonio proves to be the wise investor other cities are trying to emulate. Since San Antonio launched Pre-K 4 SA, dozens of cities have followed suit and created their own preschool programs. Even more are strategizing how to institute a similar program. What once seemed improbable—cities in the early learning business—is now so commonplace that Pre-K 4 SA has been featured at the annual conferences for the two largest municipal government organizations—the International City Managers Association and the National League of Cities.
One of the reasons so many other cities want their own version of Pre-K 4 SA is that the results are so clear. San Antonio has shown that you can take high-quality early learning to scale and change the long-term educational trajectory for thousands of children every year. The Brain Power Taskforce—a visionary group of CEOs, college presidents, superintendents, and civic leaders who conceptualized Pre-K 4 SA—had the foresight to make external evaluation a central tenet of the program design.
Consequently, Pre-K 4 SA has been studied by independent researchers since its inception. The results of this research provide unequivocal evidence that children do better, families do better, and the community does better because of Pre-K 4 SA. Evaluation of student outcomes indicates that although children who attend Pre-K 4 SA tend to enter the program below national norms in key indicators, they leave the program well above national norms and more than ready for kindergarten (Westat 2018). They also have higher third-grade math and reading scores and better attendance than their peers (Villarreal, 2019). Families who participate in the Pre-K 4 SA extended day program earn an average of $15,000 more in annual income (Westat, 2020) because they are able to work or go to school full-time. And, the San Antonio community has realized a profit of $59 million in measurable benefits as a result of Pre-K 4 SA (Westat, Teachers College & University of Pennsylvania, 2020). For the last eight years, Pre-K 4 SA has helped San Antonio lay the foundation for a more productive workforce, healthier and more engaged families, less poverty, and more civic-minded young adults. This extraordinary initiative is just getting started and only together as a community we can continue to invest in San Antonio’s youngest learners for a brighter future.
Before I came to Pre-K 4 SA, I was a college professor who conducted research to understand what it takes to create schools that serve all, not just some, children well. In fact, in 2012 when the citizens of San Antonio were boldly launching what would become a national early learning movement, I was living in Austin and searching across the world for examples of high-performing, equitable schools. Little did I know then that what I was looking for was just down the highway, right here in San Antonio!
I have often told the story of walking into a Pre-K 4 SA Education Center for the first time and being completely astounded by what I saw. In my research of schools, I had seen pockets of excellence and large swaths of mediocrity. I had observed outstanding teachers and visited classrooms where children were learning at high levels, but those were the exceptions. What I had never seen was an entire system, building by building, classroom after classroom, filled with joyful, highly engaged children and teachers. I had also never seen schools that were part of a system that was strategically designed to deliver on the promise of high-quality early learning not just in a few schools, but across a city’s entire early learning landscape. But there I was standing in such a place, and I realized one way or another I had to become a part of this bold initiative known as Pre-K 4 SA.
I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to lead a remarkable program like Pre-K 4 SA and I am equally grateful that I get to be part of the San Antonio community. On Tuesday, November 3rd, San Antonio will once again have the chance to decide whether to invest in our future by investing in our youngest learners. While I do not know how the vote will go, I am confident that San Antonio will turn out in large numbers to weigh in on this important decision. One thing I’ve learned since moving to San Antonio is that San Antonio is not just a city, realmente es una comunidad. It’s a strong, family-oriented community that works together and truly believes in their children to lead San Antonio into a prosperous future.
Written by: Sarah Baray, Pre-K 4 SA CEO
