NEW YORK—The city will open its first Educare School, one in a national network that offers free early education for low-income children who are from 6 weeks to 5 years old.
The privately funded school will open in Brooklyn for the 2013–2014 school year. The school is estimated to hold 4,000 full-day seats for children living in environments that put them at risk of dropping out of school later on in life.
The Educare School will be in the PS 41 building in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The 4,000 pre-K seats are an expansion of the current half-day seats in PS 41, to full-day seats next fall, according to the NYC Department of Education.
The Educare model uses research-based teaching methods to shrink the achievement gaps between low-income and affluent children.
A study conducted by The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, which researches child policies, found that low-income children who attended an Educare School as babies enter kindergarten with achievement levels close to their middle-income peers. This study included children with limited English proficiency.
“The time we spend with children in their earliest years, when science shows learning begins, presents a tremendous opportunity to influence their short- and long-term paths,” Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a statement.
Opening Educare will “ensure that our youngest students are on course for success in school and beyond—no matter what ZIP code they hail from,” he said.
The City’s Education Department compared the state English and math results of third- and fifth-graders who attended pre-K, to those who did not. The department found that third-grade students who attended pre-K were 28 percent more likely to score proficiently on the state English exam, and 54 percent more likely to score well on the state math exam—compared to their peers who did not attend pre-K.
“More and more research points to the importance of early education in closing the achievement gap, and helping children of all backgrounds achieve academically,” Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement. “We are prioritizing the services that will help our students reach their full potential.”
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
