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Because San Antonio resident and veteran Alex Lopez found childcare for his kids through Pre-K 4 SA, he no longer has to put his career goals on hold.
In lieu of remaining a stay-at-home dad, Lopez has enrolled at St. Philip’s College, with a dream of becoming an early childhood educator.
Lopez was working full-time at a Discount Tire shop in Colorado after being medically discharged from the military. But when his family received notification that they no longer had access to their childcare, Lopez had to quit his job and become a stay-at-home dad.
Then his wife Norma, who is active-duty military, received orders for Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The family moved to Texas.
Lopez described the waiting list for childcare on base at Fort Sam as seemingly “decades long.”
The family was eventually connected with Pre-K 4 SA for their daughters, Liliana and Emi. Right about the same time, Norma became pregnant with their third child, Santiago.
Lopez had been thinking about enrolling in college to train as an ultrasound technician. With the birth of Santiago, he would have had to delay his schooling to stay home with the baby. But luckily, Pre-K 4 SA started its infant and toddler program last year.
Liliana, now 5, attended Pre-K 4 SA last year, while Emi, 4, and Santiago, 1, are in their second years at the school. Lopez appreciates the learning environment the program provides his children.
“I know Liliana, last year, she started writing and like reading to the point where I was like, if she was at home with me, it would be 'daddy daycare,'” Lopez said. “And I had that fear with Emi because when it was daddy daycare, Liliana did most of her speaking, so (Emi) had a difficulty with speaking. She would just point and choose stuff or choose items, and I would give it to her. And last year with Pre-K 4 SA, they actually helped her speak more, get out of her shell more.”
Even though Lopez’s son has only been at Pre-K 4 SA for one year, he already notices Santiago using more hand signals to communicate, something he said he struggled to teach his first two children at home.
Lopez said he ultimately discovered his passion for studying early childhood education after visiting his kids’ classrooms at Pre-K 4 SA. The school’s "Walk in Our Shoes" program invites parents into the classroom to witness instruction firsthand.
“Like you got that fun parent side, and then the way I see it, I know they’re going to grow up,” Lopez said. “I’m going to miss that — when they’re young. And being a child educator for young kids, that’s never going to go away, because I’m going to get a new set of kids every year. That’s the way I think about it, and so that’s when I decided to switch my majors.”
Lopez is currently working toward an Associate of Arts in Teaching at St. Philip’s College; he then wants to earn his Bachelor of Science in Child Development from Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
Lopez hopes to gain employment at Pre-K 4 SA one day. Overall, the chance to enroll his kids in the program has meant that he does not have to push his career timeline back any further, he said.
“I don’t have to wait until another five years to get an education,” Lopez said. “I am 33 years old, and I’m barely starting school, so I’m glad I have childcare with Pre-K 4 SA to advance in my career and not having to put that back on the back burner, like most military spouses have to deal with.”
