HOWARD – The Knox Educational Service Center Preschool will expand to the East Knox Local Schools campus in September.
East Knox preschoolers who currently attend classes at the ESC’s school at the New Hope Early Education Center in Mount Vernon will utilize two classrooms in the new East Knox High School when the school year begins on Sept. 6.
Director Jackie Nutt, who oversees ESC Preschool instruction at New Hope, Fredericktown and Centerburg, is excited about the move.
“We look forward to collaborating with East Knox Local Schools and the East Knox community to provide the best possible learning experience for our preschoolers,” Nutt said.
Knox ESC Superintendent Dr. Timm Mackley also heralded the return of preschool to East Knox.
“It’s wonderful that, after so many years, East Knox students from preschool to high school will be on their own beautiful, modern campus in Howard,” Mackley said.
For years, East Knox preschool was held in Bladensburg. The program moved to Howard for a time, but East Knox children have attended preschool in Mount Vernon for more than a decade.
All preschool sites offer half-day classes for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, including children with special needs.
East Knox preschoolers will have a separate entrance just to the right of the high school/junior high main entrance. The two classrooms are a short distance down the hallway from the commons area.
“Preschool children will be supervised at all times and have very limited interaction with older students as they walk the short distance to their classrooms,” said Ben Snedeker, East Knox director of student services.
Assignment of a teacher and assistant for each classroom will be announced later, Nutt said.
Morning sessions will be 8:15 to 11:30 a.m.; afternoon sessions from 12:15 to 3:30 p.m. Busing will be provided in the morning and after the afternoon sessions, but there will be no midday bus service. Information about drop-off and pickup locations will be forthcoming.
Snedeker said the two classrooms were built specifically for preschool. Each has a restroom, cubbies for coat and backpack storage and a large ViewSonic screen for full-color interactive instruction and displays. The rooms are connected by an interior door.
Knox ESC Preschool utilizes play-based instruction.
“It is important for parents to know that ours is a play-based program. Research shows that’s the way kids learn best,” Nutt said. “Children learn through play. That’s when they are most receptive.”
While in a playing environment, preschoolers learn letters and numbers while building social and coping skills and learning to regulate their feelings and emotions.
For information about enrollment, call 740-393-6980, Ext. 233, or click on the preschool link at knoxesc.org.
Photo caption
Knox ESC Preschool Director Jackie Nutt and Ben Snedeker, director of student services at East Knox Local Schools, stand in one of the preschool classrooms in the new East Knox High School. The student desks shown here will be removed and replaced by small chairs and tables this summer.
