Resources:
Sarah Rigg's Feature Article: "Preschool for all" push results in higher enrollment and more classrooms in Ypsi schools
Washtenaw Intermediate School District
Michigan Department of Lifelong Education Advancement and Potential (MiLEAP)
Transcription:
Rylee Barnsdale: You're listening to 89 one WEMU. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. At the end of 2024, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education Advancement and Potential announced that the state of Michigan had the highest prekindergarten enrollment number over the past decade and an increase of over 4000 students over 2023. And Ypsi is no exception to this, seeing a 15% increase with a total of 82 classrooms compared to 2023. I'm here today with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District executive director of early childhood, Edward Manuszak, to chat about what this increase means for Ypsi schools and families. Hi Eddie! Thanks so much for being here today!
Edward Manuszak: Oh, thank you very much for inviting me! I appreciate the opportunity to speak about making early childhood matter most!
Rylee Barnsdale: So, this increase in pre-K enrollment, not just here in Ypsi but across the state, is at least in part due to the state's Pre-K for All initiative, which allows for free enrollment in Head Start and Great Start programs for four-year-olds. What did the options look like for Ypsi families looking for preschool before this one was available?
Edward Manuszak: Yeah. So, we as an agency do represent all the nine local public school districts, and there are many community-based organizations that we also partner with with preschool. Specifically prior to this being offered, we did have the Great Start Readiness Program and then Head Start center-based classrooms. And last year, our agency was in open competition for the Head Start grant, and we used that opportunity to kind of take a look at our community needs assessment and figure out what are some programs thinking long-term and what we could offer. And so, we decided to write the grant in a manner in cooperation with the leadership at Ypsilanti Community Schools to offer early Head Start center-based classroom at Beatty Early Learning Center, along with offering the Great Start Readiness Program, which is the Pre-K for All, which did see that spike in enrollment and then also continuing to offer Head Start center-based classrooms. So, our agency also affords Head Start home visiting, so that's in addition to these preschool settings that we have. We then also coordinate the early-on program for families that have children who are identified having special needs from birth rates to age three. They can also receive home services. And then, with Early Head Start on visiting, we actually can work with moms who are pregnant, so prenatal all the way through age three. And then, the early Head Start center-based classroom option was 18 months to three years. And then, Head Start is a three and a four-year-old center based classroom option. And then, the Great Start Readiness program is primarily just for four-year-olds. You have to qualify for that program. But we're thrilled to be stepping in this space with so many partners and being able to amplify what we believe is going to offer children and families the best starts possible.
Rylee Barnsdale: Really trying to hit every base and make this quality early education as accessible, it sounds like--as accessible to as many folks as possible.
Edward Manuszak: Yes, yes!
Rylee Barnsdale: So, with these 82 classrooms compared to last year, what kinds of resources and staffing changes were needed on the schools' part? Is there enough space for these students and enough teachers to teach them?
Edward Manuszak: Yeah, that's a great question. Nationally, I know that we're dealing with a teacher workforce shortage, and we're no different here in Washtenaw County. I know in Lincoln Community Schools, we still have some classrooms that, due to staffing shortages, we still can't open or that number would be even more. And the idea that our agency is stepping into this space actually with Eastern Michigan University and with Washtenaw County College to have this new partnership coming out in the fall of 2025, so that individuals that are currently in a classroom as an assistant or maybe they're thinking about becoming a teacher, our agency is partnering with both of those organizations. And I sit--or I will be sitting on--the Washtenaw County College Early Childhood Advisory Board and was just invited to sit on the Early Childhood Advisory Board here at Eastern. And just this idea of making sure that we're trying to get people who are qualified into those positions, it's very important. So, we can offer these classrooms and get the staffing shortages we have. Now from a facility standpoint, there is enough space. There are enough spaces around the county to have this currently. And I know with the Governor's new proposal budget that just came out last week, she is throwing in some dollars with this proposed budget for facilities. If you have facilities that you need to develop, you can. So, that's a first. So, we're excited to be able to explore that if it does finally because, in the budget process, she has to work with leadership from the House and the Senate to make that come together. So. It's a much more involved process there, but we'll be monitoring that closely. But as it stands right now, we just want to make sure that, as an agency, we're offering everything we can to support local districts and local community-based organizations that, when we have the qualifications that are in place, that we can get them there.
Rylee Barnsdale: And we talked a little bit about the accessibility piece of having this really high-quality, early-on education available to families in the area. Why is that access to this form of education so important to students and families here in Ypsi? Why should parents seize this opportunity to enroll if they haven't done so already?
Edward Manuszak: Yeah. So, it really comes down to making sure that their child is ready for learning for life, because the skills and the ability of those children during their development in a high-quality, early childhood classroom afford them not just academic readiness skills, but social and emotional readiness skills and physical and fine and gross motor skills. But all important, too, is the executive function skills, meaning students that have the ability to problem solve, students have the ability to delay their gratification, students that have the ability to communicate, students that are in the position, when they're confronted with a challenging situation, are they able to use those skills and put them forward because it really is about giving every child the opportunity to be in a position, so that they are ready for that experience, either in kindergarten or what that first school experience would look like when they enter into a public or private school setting prior to preschool. And interesting fact that a single parent, and specifically a mom who's a single parent, who has access to high-quality, early childhood care throughout that child's life, has an increased earning potential of $79,000 over the course of that person's lifetime. So, it's also a financial readiness decision, because if that family has access to high-quality, early childhood education, that does mean that they're going to be able. If they have a job or if they don't have a job, maybe they can work for us because we can recruit them to work for us or they will be maybe absent less at their work because they do have a place for their child to be in a high-quality, early childhood setting.
Rylee Barnsdale: Have there been additional efforts on the district's part to encourage more families to enroll in these programs because they're more accessible due to this initiative?
Edward Manuszak: Absolutely! Recruitment and selection and enrollment and eligibility-- that's everyone's job.
Rylee Barnsdale: Sure.
Edward Manuszak: We have specific people targeting that work. And I just want to give a shoutout to our RCS specialist who represents our agency. That's the enrollment recruiting selection kind of specialist that we have that works on that. But it is everyone's job. And something like today, today has a great moniker of getting the word out there about this high-quality, no-cost opportunity for parents. And we're always enrolling. It's not just one portion of the year because children's birthdays happen whenever they are. And so, we're always looking to enroll children into these programs. And it can be the middle of the year like right now. And we would still like to have those children involved in our programs. So, we have the www.helpmegrowwashtenaw.com website and that is a one-stop shop. So, if you have a child or even if you're a pregnant mom, first time with your child and you don't have any other children, we encourage you to take a look at that website because it's really important for that information to be out there in these parents and adult caregivers for their children's hands.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm talking with Edward Manuszak, the director of early childhood for the WISD. So, Eddie, how has this increase in pre-K enrollment benefited families in Ypsi so far, especially in terms of this access that we have discussed at length at this point?
Edward Manuszak: Yeah! I know that having just visited a couple of programs here as a part of the NAAPID, or National African-American Parent Involvement Day, it is about building a sense of community that you want your child in a setting that has adults who are going to care and love for their children like their own. In having set foot in Beatty Early Learning Center at Ypsilanti Community Schools, Principal Atchison and his staff there do amazing work. And we're proud to partner with the leadership from Ypsilanti Community Schools to offer this high-quality experience for those children and families. And then, prior to that, going to Ann Arbor Public Schools and being in a position where to support Principal York and the leadership of Ann Arbor Public Schools, seeing the parents so involved, having this kind of agency where parents voices matter is so very important because the child's first and best teacher is their parent.
Rylee Barnsdale: What are the district's next steps as far as keeping that enrollment, maybe even increasing it even further in the years to come?
Edward Manuszak: Not only is it great for the child in the family, but it's also great for the economy. Head Start, specifically, as an anti-poverty program. It's 60 years old. We're celebrating our 60-year birthday this year for Head Start. It was 1965 when it came out. So, we're hoping that it's around for 60 more years. And our strategy is to continue to work closely with our community-based organizations in our districts to making sure that we're being as much of a support to them. And then, we can be so much support to the parents and that we can then use this as a platform to amplify to have children as ready as we can entering into a space where learning is happening in a high-quality environment, and it affords them the ability to be in a position as a child to give them the best possible start.
Rylee Barnsdale: Well, Edward, I want to thank you so much for sitting down with me today and to chat about this! I mean, it's great to see access to quality education increase for everybody and also great to know that the district is ensuring families know about these opportunities and have their best interests at heart!
Edward Manuszak: Well, thank you again for having me! And we're just proud to be in this space as a partner!
Rylee Barnsdale: For more information on today's topic and links to the full article, visit our website at wemu.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting at Eastern Michigan University!
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