Community Education Corner: Register for pre-K programming in Esko

ESKO — Spring season is a busy time in the life of community educators! Not only are we opening registration for our spring and summer programs, but we also are registering people for our school year programs for 2023-2024.

Currently, our school age child care is full for the 2023-2024 school year, but we still have room for pre-K families to enroll in our pre-K programs and wraparound child care programs.

This year we are offering a young learner’s program called Stepping Stones for children who are 3 years old by Sept. 1, 2023. This program runs Wednesday and Friday mornings for 2.5 hours per day.

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We also have School Readiness for students that are 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2023. This program runs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday both in the morning and afternoon for 2.5 hours per day. This year, we are adding Discovery which is offered Wednesday and Friday mornings for students who are age 4 years old by Sept. 1. This will give the option of programming five days per week for those who want that option. In addition, Discovery will focus on bridging the gap between knowing and doing by offering hands-on activities outdoors and in the classroom.

Our pre- K programs are now open for registration to students outside of the Esko school district.

In Esko, we often get asked, “What is the best way for me to get my children into Cool Kids child care for the school year?” The simple answer is to send your children to our pre-K programs. We hold 20 spots each year for our pre-K learners to have wraparound care allowing students to attend child care from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Staff accompany children to pre-K classrooms and back during the day.

Once a child is enrolled into our child care program, they have priority registration every year. Basically, families can stay in child care as long as they need us. The key is to start with us at age 4.

On a typical year of registration, we will have four to five openings for new children making enrollment as a Kindergarten student very challenging. Make life easier and register for our pre-K programs today! All registration happens through Eleyo online at https://esko.ce.eleyo.com/child-care/2/pre-k-programs.

"Community Education Corner," published weekly in the Pine Journal, features news from Community Education programs in Carlton County.

Michele Carlson is the Community Education Director for Esko Schools.