Community Partners Join Forces to Expand Preschool Opportunities

ST. CLOUD -- The Rotary Club, District 742 and the Boys and Girls Clubs are all partnering to provide access to early childhood education this fall.

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Preschool 4 success will offer schooling for 60 four-year-olds in the district starting in September. The program will offer classes to 15 students in the morning and 15 in the afternoon at both the Southside and Roosevelt Boys & Girls Clubs locations.

District 742 Superintendent Willie Jett says high-quality early childhood experienes are essential to students' future success.

This partnership provides expanded access to preschool education and will ensure our youngest learners are academically, socially, and emotionally prepared for kindergarten.

Costs for the program will be shared by District 742 who will provide the teachers and paraprofessional staff, the St. Cloud Rotary Foundation and scholarship donations by Rotarians, local business and classroom space provided by the Boys & Girls Club.

Rotary club president John Bodette says their motto is service about self, which led to the creation of the program.

This project offers our Rotarians the opprotunity to make a real difference in the lives of children in our community. By offering them a preschool experience, we think these children will do better all the way through school and into their adult lives.

Preschool 4 Success will reach out to prospective students living in the areas around the two sites and may be able to use existing bus routes.

An estimated 150-200 three and four-year-olds are on a waiting list for the District's preschool classes.