Jackson School District renting church for expanded preschool program

When South Elementary opened in 1998 two rooms were designated for early childhood education.

"We thought that was it," said associate superintendent Dr. Beth Emmendorfer. "It was our vision."

As waiting lists grew, so did the program, which serves the entire Jackson School District. This year the district expanded its preschool program to include 80 more students. Space limitations within buildings prompted the district to look across from the school on Highway 25.

"All the buildings in the district are full," Emmendorfer said. "We are filled to capacity."

To accommodate the additional students, the district is renting the New McKendree United Methodist Church across the street from the elementary school.

Joshua Simpson, 3, glances up while playing with cars Thursday morning in preschool at South Elementary in Jackson. (Kit Doyle)

The district is leasing the building for $45,916 per year. There are 105 students housed in the church with another 83 in the elementary.

The district brought in tables and cubbies to transform Sunday school classrooms to fit its needs, Emmendorfer said.

"It just works lovely for us," said Bonnie Knowlan, South Elementary principal.

Students with mild to significant developmental delays, whether cognitive, physical, communicative, adaptive or emotional, receive priority. The district is required by law to provide education for students with disabilities when they turn 3. The preschool program was expanded in 2002 to also include students with mild development issues such as social anxiety or language problems.

Emmendorfer said students who do not have special needs are charged tuition and do not receive transportation. The recent expansion, however, will allow the district to pursue another vision: more integration of special-needs students with those who are typically developing, she said.

Emmendorfer said more parents are looking for more preschool options with certified teachers; such students have a more seamless transition to kindergarten, whether at South or another elementary school in the district.

By combining both groups of students, children learn acceptance of others, she said.

"We see it as a great way to model behavior," Knowlan said.

For some students the early intervention helps. This year 39 percent of students entering kindergarten were dismissed from special services and did not need an individualized education plan.

When Michelle Simpson visited her son, Joshua, in the neonatal intensive care unit after he was born, she said she was scared of the life that lay ahead for him.

"It was just fear basically," she said. "All we wanted to do was protect him from the outside world."

Joshua, 3, was born with Down syndrome and has mild hearing loss, she said. He has been receiving physical, occupational, speech and hearing therapy.

Michelle said sending him to school has been a growing experience for her as a parent.

"Why would I want to shelter him when so many good things can happen?" she said. "It was just amazing to see how the other kids interacted with him."

Joshua has been attending school at South for six weeks. She said she can see improvement in his communication skills.

"I think just being around kids, he's trying to say more things," she said.

She said he is making friends, including a classmate who likes his hearing aids because they are like her grandfather's.

His teacher, Karen Schneider, said some students assume the responsibilities of a social role model. She has seen students learn to become more inclusive of students who are different from them.

"They don't care that they're different," said Schneider, who has been an early childhood special education teacher in Jackson for five years. "They're just friends."

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1701 S. Hope St. Jackson, MO