Shelby County pre-K program reports uptick in enrollment, attendance, achievement scores

First 8 Memphis, an early childhood education program funded in part by Shelby County and the City of Memphis, provided Shelby Commissioners with a quarter 4 update on Wednesday. The update spanned from March until May of last school year and the full school year update will be presented in the coming weeks. The program started in 2015 and focuses on needs-based pre-K education for Shelby County residents.

First 8 Memphis paid over $3 million dollars to pre-K operators to facilitate education programs in the fourth quarter. Shelby County Government allocated $9 million to First 8 Memphis for the 2023-24 school year.

Enrollment for the fourth quarter for Shelby County was at 88% and 5 of 24 zip codes experienced an increase in enrollment compared to quarter 3 and were at 100% capacity. The areas that experienced the highest enrollment increases from quarter 3 to quarter 4 were Orange Mound, Millington and Midtown.

The current 2023-24 school year enrollment is at 85%, and First 8 Memphis pre-K operators prioritized enrollment of income-eligible families below 185% of the federal poverty line. After Sept. 15, operators increased income eligibility to 300% of the poverty line to increase access to high-quality pre-K for 4-year-old children in Shelby County. For a family of two, their income must be $36,482 to be at the 185% threshold.

First 8 Memphis also said that enrollment has steadily increased post-pandemic.

As for attendance, 85% of students attend 80% or more school days or more of the days they are enrolled. First 8 Memphis students outperformed their peers nationally and were in the 63rd percentile for 2022-23 post-assessment compared to the 45th percentile on the pre-assessment. The students are tested on the Brigance IED III assessment, which looks at students adaptive behavior, academic skills, physical development, language development and social emotional development.

Commissioner Britney Thornton questioned First 8 Memphis's marketing as a free pre-K program, as there are income-based restrictions on registration.

"First 8 Memphis, with your dollars, we have the highest income threshold across all of the other funding streams, but it still is not enough," Kandace Thomas, executive director of First 8 Memphis said during the presentation.

Harris nominates Register of Deeds for DMC board

Former County Commissioner and current Register of Deeds for Shelby County Willie F. Brooks, Jr has been nominated by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris to be a member of the Downtown Memphis Commission. Mayor-elect Paul Young is President of the Downtown Memphis Commission but will no longer hold the position when he assumes office.

More: Shelby County could be making significant changes to the county land bank

If the commission approves the resolution during the Monday meeting that enacts his nomination, Brooks would still hold his current position as the Shelby County Register of Deeds. The Register of Deeds is a position elected by Shelby County Voters.

Brooks qualifies for the position due to his years of work at FedEx, according to Jerri Green, senior policy advisor for Harris.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at 901-484-6225, Brooke.Muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on X/Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: First 8 Memphis reports uptick in pre-K enrollment, achievement