On the day they welcomed students back to school grounds for open house, the Union Public School District held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new Pre-K facility.
The 4,000 square foot facility houses three Pre-K classrooms and one early intervention room for Pre-k-fourth grade students, and each room comes with its own restroom.
The new facility allows the district to expand their Pre-K classrooms from 20 seats to 60 seats and was made possible through a State Invested Pre-K Grant received from the state legislature. According to superintendent Tyler Hansford, the additional seats for Pre-K students is a great thing for both the district and the community.
“Twenty years ago, they established the first Pre-K here. There were 20 seats available, and it was funded with federal dollars. And that served our community well. But what happened year after year was there were not enough seats for everybody that wanted to participate,” said Hansford. “So, we’ve been able to take our 20 seats and expand to 60 seats. It’s really good and it’s free. We do, I think, still have a waiting list. So, that’s good and bad, because we have people that want to come, but they haven’t made it yet.”
Hansford said in order to get the grant, the district had to come up with space for the new K-4 facility and thanked his elementary administration and staff who worked to make space.
“I credit our people at the elementary last year. It was either we do it now or we miss out on the opportunity for the money,” Hansford said. “And so, we had folks that worked in all kinds of places last year. Some in the same room, some in probably broom closets and whatever else just so we could get that funding.”
Hansford also thanked the school board for doing their part, as well as the district’s maintenance staff, who had an integral role in putting the new building together.
“If you go figure out how school districts build buildings, the way we did this one is probably not typical. We did it in a way that is the most efficient and effective way possible,” said Hansford. “So, this thing was pretty well put together by our maintenance people. Kudos to all you guys that helped make it happen.”
After the ceremony, everyone in attendance for the ribbon cutting were welcomed to visit each of the new classrooms.
