“I wish I was either 4 years old or certified to teach here,” said Rep. Robert Menendez (D-13th Dist.) after taking a tour of the new early childhood center in West New York.
The facility, at 5402 Hudson Ave., opened on March 6. It’s part of the public school system and serves only 4-year-olds.
It includes 10 classrooms, one of which is for pre-kindergarten disabled students, said Principal Timothy Schroeder. Each of the 10 classrooms in the new facility has 15 4-year-old students supervised by a certified early childhood teacher and one teacher’s assistant. The disabled pre-school class has fewer students.
The facility will also house an office for an additional Child Study Team, and a community room where Schroeder said he hopes to hold parent meetings and seminars. A working greenhouse is also in use on the second floor of the building, and a multipurpose room is being used for group and physical education activities.
“For kids in an urban setting to have a working greenhouse, that is what they really deserve,” said Menendez.
An outdoor playground planned for the building is expected to be completed within the next month. Along with the full-day of instruction from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the district also provides wrap-around hours from 7:30 a.m. to 8: 30 a.m. and 2:50 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This district has contracted with Aramark Medallion, a Colorado-based company, to provide instruction during these wrap-around hours.
A better learning environment
When walking through the brightly colored yellow, blue and green hallways of the new facility, Menendez was able to peek into the classrooms through different-shaped windows and see the display cases that will eventually hold the students’ artwork.
“This shows that we don’t have a box-like setting [in a school building],” said Menendez. “It shows that we can use our money creatively.”
Each classroom is separated into different workstations where the children can play and learn. Some of these stations include reading, writing, building blocks and science.
“These are the most important students,” said Early Childhood Education Supervisor Claire Warnock, saying that children who begin to learn at an early age become better students and better citizens. “It all starts here.”
Staying in district
With the addition of the new center, the West New York School District is now able to provide 315 4-year-old students with an early childhood program in district.
The 10 new classrooms helped the district expand its program from eight classrooms during the last school year to 21 classrooms this school year.
The other early childhood classrooms within the district include three classrooms at the Amvets Center on Boulevard East, five modular classrooms at Public School No. 2, two classes at Public School No. 3 and one classroom at Public School No. 4.
However, with 880 registered early childhood students, the district is still contracting with 17 early childhood education providers.