Preschool classes spring up to meet South Bay needs

Monday, September 05, 2005

Preschool classes spring up to meet South Bay needs

State-funded program works to increase options for parents of all income brackets. By Melissa Milios Daily Breeze Since May, they've been drilled on the basics: Pledge of Allegiance? Check. Solid block structure? Check. "Itsy Bitsy Spider"? Check. It's been a condensed introduction, but at Chabad of South Bay, the pilot class of 4-year-olds sponsored by Los Angeles Universal Preschool graduated last week with an arsenal full of new skills. This week, most are on to the big league -- kindergarten. Starting this fall, Chabad and seven other local preschool providers are shifting into gear, opening a total of at least 15 classes to more than 300 4-year-olds through the program known as LAUP. It's the beginning of a $600 million effort financed through the state's 50-cents-a-pack cigarette tax, aimed at increasing the quality and number of preschool options for parents of all income brackets. LAUP funding allowed Chabad, which also runs a Jewish K-6 school at its Lomita facility, to open, outfit and staff a previously vacant classroom to students of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. The school hopes to open another LAUP classroom in the coming months. Most of the eight local providers who received funding last spring have filled all their spots for this fall. The program is often free for parents, though some sites require families to pay a small "investment fee" to encourage attendance. For Elizabeth Uribe, whose son Ethan was in the pilot program at Chabad, the option was just what she was looking for. "Even for half a day, the (private preschools) are asking $100 a week," said Uribe, a stay-at-home mom on a tight budget. "Plus, all the regular programs are filled. We were taking all the Mommy and Me classes to get him ready (for school)." Classes start Tuesday at Dolores Street Early Education Center in Carson, where Principal Linda Tolbert said LAUP funding has allowed the school to add a bungalow that will hold two new preschool classes of 24 students each. "We've been taking kids since July 1, so we have a waiting list now that's quite extensive," Tolbert said. "We're talking dozens." New bungalows are also being built to house Los Angeles Unified School District-run programs in Harbor City and San Pedro, adding much-needed capacity to the countywide preschool system. Currently, only about half of 4-year-olds countywide have access to preschool -- which numerous studies have linked to better performance in school and even to higher graduation rates and fewer run-ins with the law -- according to LAUP and Census data. In Lennox, for example, there are 600 more preschoolers than there are preschool spaces, and only about 10 percent of the kids there have access to preschools in their neighborhoods. Within 10 years, LAUP aims to increase preschool access countywide to 70 percent. "We really want to make it available to anyone who wants it, but our best projection is that only 70 percent will take advantage of it even if it's free and in a convenient location," said LAUP spokesman Peter Shackow. Since the program is new, parents so far have mostly heard about LAUP through word of mouth. But more local classrooms and more outreach are planned. Shackow said that eight additional family child-care homes were in line to become LAUP providers in the South Bay and Harbor Area. Once they pass a few qualifying steps, he said, they will be listed on the Web at www.laup.net.