Borden-Henryville to offer On My Way PreK

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Jun. 29—CLARK COUNTY — Borden-Henryville School Corp. is expanding preschool options for local families.

In the 2022-23 school year, Henryville Elementary will offer On My Way PreK for the first time. The program will take place from Aug. 1 to May 26.

The statewide grant from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration covers tuition for 4-year-old children from eligible families, and it is offered at high-quality preschool providers.

Henryville Elementary already offers developmental preschool classes, and this will be a major increase in the options offered for families. The program is expected to double as the school goes from one to two preschool classrooms.

The school will offer the full-day On My Way PreK class, as well as half-day preschool options from Aug. 8 to May 18.

Dawn Meador, director of special populations for Borden-Henryville, said the district is in a "dead zone" for preschool and child care.

"There are extremely limited options for community members, especially those who attend Borden-Henryville," she said. "The goal is to expand services to really reach families who do not have access to high-quality early learning services and maybe cannot afford other preschool services that are more expensive in the area."

This year, Borden-Henryville will also begin offering child care for staff members who work for the school district. The program will be available for children 12 months or older, and it would cost about $100 a week.

The goal is to "think outside the box to address teacher needs as well as student needs," Meador said.

"We're starting with staff and hoping to grow that to where we also offer it to the community as well," she said. "We want to support our staff, and we're hoping it does cut down on some of the needs for substitutes in classrooms, especially for some of our staff who maybe have in-home child care, and if someone is sick, they lose their child care for the day."

On My Way PreK will be "life-changing" for families, Meador said.

The pandemic has caused many children to come into kindergarten without any preschool experience, she said. To help kids become kindergarten-ready, the Borden-Henryville program will focus on skills such as reading, socialization, speech skills and collaboration.

If families are not eligible, the program costs $325 a month.

Borden-Henryville aims to begin a preschool program at the Borden campus in the next school year, which would need to be established for at least a year before becoming eligible for On My Way PreK, Meador said.

Clarksville Community Schools is also offering On My Way PreK for the first time this year at Clarksville Elementary. The program is already offered at Greater Clark County Schools and New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp.

Meador said as families enroll for Borden-Henryville's program, a QR code on the enrollment form will direct them to the application for On My Way PreK.

"I'm hoping and anticipating that once we have those spots filled that enrollment will continue to rise due to the need in the area as people realize we're offering the service," she said. "I think it will appeal to a lot of families."