By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
One of St. Joseph's many elementary schools will become an early childhood learning center next school year.
The Board of Education voted unanimously at their January meeting to convert Mark Twain Elementary to early childhood next school year.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar says currently there is a lack of early childhood education in the city.
"We have one facility right now at the old Lake Contrary school, you know it's going great but we face a bigger challenge than that," Edgar tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. "If you look at percentages, about 44% of our students are ready to go to Kindergarten, and on a state average that average is about 65-66%."
Edgar says getting children educated early helps form routine, but also it could help solve major problems in the district, such as attendance.
"Ok, if you learn to come to school at three or four, then you're going to come to school at five right, because you've learned to come to school at three and four," Edgar explains. "And one of our biggest challenges is kindergarten attendance, kindergarten is one of the lowest attended grades that we have in the St. Joseph public school district, and often times is the worst."
Edgar says another goal in the district is with discipline and helping kids early on learn structure and discipline to carry into their school careers.
With the change, St. Joseph will have 13 elementary schools in the next school year.
Edgar says the board was only going to discuss the change during its meeting, with an eventual vote coming in February, but staff from Mark Twain urged them to push the vote.
"Because we received a letter from administration and the staff at Mark Twain that said listen if this is inevitable would you please just go ahead and make the vote so we can plan and get this behind us, and relieve some of the pressure," Edgar says.
School Board President David Foster read that letter during the meeting and the board went on to vote 6-0 for the change.
Students from Mark Twain are expected to be sent to one of five different schools next year, between Coleman, Skaith, Edison, Carden Park, and Parkway schools.