UPDATE: THESE CLASSES ARE NOW FULL. THANK YOU, JOPLIN!
Joplin Schools is now accepting enrollment applications for three new neighborhood- based preschool classrooms for 4-year-old students, called Little Eagles Flight School. The new preschool classrooms will be offered to residents in the Irving, Royal Heights, and Soaring Heights attendance zones as part of a pilot program designed to provide quality early learning opportunities to more district children.
Joplin Schools Executive Director of Student Services Dr. Jordan Dickey said she is excited to see the district opening up affordable early learning options to area families.
“It’s not widely known, but the entirety of Jasper County is classified as what’s known as a ‘childcare desert’ because there are so few childcare centers that our families can afford,” Dickey said. “If you couple that challenge with our understanding that about half of our incoming kindergartners come to us with no early learning experience, we think many of our local families with young children could really benefit from high-quality preschool options that are attached to the same elementary schools their older children attend. That’s where Flight School can help”
The 2024-25 pilot year for Little Eagles Flight School will be in session for the full school day and share the elementary school attendance hours. There will also be transportation services, as well as breakfast and lunch options provided. Students must be age four by Aug. 1, 2024 to be eligible.
Flight School preschool classes will be available to all eligible students for free during this pilot year. The startup costs for this program are made possible thanks to a Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education grant. Enrollments are going to prioritize four-year olds who live within these elementary zones; however, if seats are available, they will be offered to others who live within the boundaries of Joplin Schools.
“During this pilot year, our focus is to try out the elementary based program in three different neighborhoods and create a low-barrier, high-quality preschool opportunity for our families with four year olds,” said Dickey. “The bottom line is we want to get more kids in the door so they can have access to our classrooms and teachers.”
Enrollment instructions are available at JoplinSchools.org. Interested families are encouraged to begin the pre-enrollment process soon, as spaces are limited. For more information, please contact Joplin Early Childhood at 417-625-5275.