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The City of San Antonio’s preschool program, Pre-K 4 SA, officially opened its new South Education Center Wednesday.
Preschoolers have been attending the school since August, but the center’s four classrooms for infants and toddlers just opened last week.
Pre-K 4 SA CEO Sarah Baray said they began looking for a new location several years ago because they had outgrown the old one.
“That was a building we were leasing, and we had outgrown it in terms of its location, in terms of how it was laid out. It didn't have some of the features that this building has,” Baray said. “One of the things that this building has that we've really focused on is what we call invisible security. So, how do you have a beautiful, open facility that is actually highly secure?”
Baray said they decided to look for a space in southeast San Antonio, and she asked Holt Cat CEO Peter Holt if he knew of a good location, since Holt Cat is located in the area.
“We knew that it was a childcare desert, and it was growing with young families,” Baray said.
Holt responded by offering to donate land next to his company’s headquarters. The Holt Group also lent the city the money needed to build the center, which Baray said cost $33 million.
“We are paying them back through leasing, but then we'll own the building outright in 2028,” Baray said. “Eventually we will be paying less in facilities and be able to put more back into programming.”
Pre-K 4 SA operates four early education centers throughout San Antonio, with about 500 preschoolers in each location. The new South Education Center serves 320 preschoolers and 40 infants and toddlers.
“When we moved here, we intentionally did not put in 500 because we knew Educare was opening up, and we didn't want to over-create seats for this particular area,” Baray said.
Pre-K 4 SA will be co-operating Educare when it opens at Texas A&M University-San Antonio next year.
Educare is being built with a focus on infant and toddler care and will have capacity to serve 200 children.
“People want us to expand and do even more. And we're like, well, we could, but really what we want to be able to do is strengthen existing programs that are out there, so that families have great options wherever they are,” Baray said. “We'll never be able to serve every child under the age of five, that's just not a reasonable goal. And so, we what we want to do is being very intentional about what role do these demonstration sites play in the larger ecosystem, and helping to develop that.”
The new center is built with young children in mind, with murals on the walls and interactive installations in the hallways. The furniture and sinks are low to the ground.
Doors to the classrooms open half-way for visibility, and small rooms next door have windows where future teachers and preschool operators can observe.
In the middle of the school, surrounded by walls and fences, are two outdoor learning areas that connect directly to classrooms. Students spend at least an hour a day outside.
Even though Pre-K 4 SA knew they were locating in a child care desert where there was a high level of need for infant and toddler care, Baray said she was surprised by the number of applications they received for their infant and toddler seats.
She said they opened up the applications to their priority groups, on a Friday, and had 125 applications within three hours — more than enough to fill their 40 available seats.
Pre-K 4 SA’s priority groups included military families, siblings of their current preschoolers, and employees of the city and Holt Cat.
“By the end, we only had it open a week, and we had over 200 (applications),” Baray said. “And so, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, the need is there.’”
During the opening ceremony city officials and early learning advocates spoke of the need for quality early learning like Pre-K 4 SA provides with the help of a 1/8 cent sales tax first approved by city voters in 2012.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said it aligns with both of the city’s two most important jobs: reducing poverty and becoming more economically competitive.
“It's investments like this that are so critical,” Jones said. “Not only are they the right thing to do, but they are so critical also for our national and our economic security.”
“On your city council, we have a strong commitment to not only early childhood education, but also understanding the role that this plays as the great equalizer in our community,” Jones added.
City council member Phyllis Viagran, who represents the area where the center is located, said it represented another sign the South and South East Side is growing after generations of neglect.
“One of the challenges that we're facing, however, is we know that there's a poverty rate of 20% nationwide and in this city. And of that 20%, we know that 50% are women who often struggle to find balance in their professional and familial responsibilities,” Viagran said. “So, child care accessibility is key, and it's significant specifically to the South Side.”
Peter Holt, who is also co-chair of a group dedicated to expanding quality early learning in San Antonio called Early Matters, praised Pre-K 4 SA for its role in training and supporting other early childhood educators and business leaders.
“I think that it's important that our community knows that the scale is bigger than just one seat or one child that you see here,” Hold said. “So, the direct impact is incredible, but the indirect impact is really incredible.”
Speaking for the Pre-K 4 SA board of directors, Elaine Mendoza said reiterated its role in providing professional development and business support.
“Our community is growing in all parts of our city, and with that comes challenges, a great problem to have, but the challenges of a rising younger population requires Pre-K 4 SA to evolve strategies to meet the needs and advance the new research and data,” Mendoza said.
“This building is a manifestation of the pillar of innovation. It has incorporated all the design elements which are geared towards educating our students,” she added. “Yeah, it's just a building, I hear you, but one that is probably an unknowing participant in building young minds. Our future workforce.”
