Putnam County Schools will increase tuition for its inclusion Pre-K classes, raising the daily rate from $5 to $7 to address rising operational costs.
Elementary Instructional Supervisor Dr. Diana Wood said the additional revenue will be directed back into classrooms to purchase manipulatives, snacks and other essential supplies as the program transitions into the Early Learning Academy.
“We haven’t had a tuition increase in over 20 years, and so we still think $7 is very reasonable for families, so that ends up being $35 a week,” Wood said. “And still, you have a certified teacher in your classroom, you know, along with support staff assistants helping, and so we feel like that’s the best deal in town, but it just needed to be done at this time.”
Wood said the rate change specifically affects typical peers enrolled in special education Pre-K classes. Wood said the district also approved a new before and after school care schedule for Putnam County school employees to accommodate their contracted work hours.
“The before and after school that we approved at that board meeting is for our Putnam County school employees,” Wood said. “Because we’re going to that new site at the Early Learning Academy, a lot of our typical peers are children of our Putnam County employees. And so, in order for them to work out their contracted hours at their schools, we wanted to offer that for them to be able to drop off at 7:15 a.m. if needed and pick up by 3:45 p.m. and that helps them work their 7:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. schedule.”
Wood said the extended care options allow staff members to manage different family dynamics while maintaining their professional responsibilities. Wood said other families attending the Early Learning Academy can access school-aged childcare, if they require extended care.
“We know that early literacy is vital to kids learning to read, and just those experiences at schools gives them the background to be ready for kindergarten,” Wood said. “We really want to support our early learners and learning to read doesn’t just start when you start learning the code, it’s all about language and learning vocabulary and just conversations with each other. And so having those enrichment experiences in a school setting is just very supportive of learning to read.”
Wood said the district remains focused on ensuring students are prepared for the transition to kindergarten through early literacy and language development. Wood said the program relies on these enrichment experiences to provide children with the necessary vocabulary and social skills for future academic success, all while remaining affordable.
“It really is (a good deal), if you kind of price it around, but we are so very grateful for our families that choose Putnam County Pre-K because it’s important,” Wood said.
