As a cost cutting measure Ann Arbor Public Schools closed tuition based pre-school programs at Allen and Thurston Elementary for the current school year.
A group of parents however have been working with district officials to create a new pre-school program and hope the school board will begin considering the options later this month.
One parent, Janelle Johnson says the old pre-school program did a better job than private pre-schools in preparing all students to succeed in school. She adds that the program had more diversity including economic diversity than most private pre-schools, and the program did a great job of preparing kids for elementary school and made kids more comfortable with the idea of school.
Jeanice Swift, Superintendent of the AAPS, explains to WEMU news that a tuition based pre-school proposal will be designed for all Ann Arbor kids and not exactly the same as the discontinued program.
Another parent, Caitlin Rowe says a key aspect that separated this pre-school program from private pre-schools is the way it was designed specifically for Ann Arbor Public Schools.
— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
