TheBurg News - Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/548742
30 | The Burg | 08.15 Emmy, owned by Charlotte kluge. I n Harrisburg, there's a magic number—1,719. at's the number of 3- and 4-year- olds living in the city, according to the 2010 U.S. census. ose preschool years, educators say, are when the brain reaches peak developmental powers. e neurological foundation for learning, socialization, communications and critical thinking is built from birth to age 5. Educators also agree that quality pre- kindergarten helps build that foundation, especially among disadvantaged children. So, back to the number of 1,719. ere are 546 children enrolled in Capital Area Head Start's pre-school in the city of Harrisburg. An additional 400-plus are on the waiting list. A handful are in other quality programs. As for the rest—many might be in good preschools, or are being raised by parents and grandparents who excel at instilling the basics of literacy and math and socialization in their little ones. Or they might not. It's just not known. What is known is that not all children receive quality early learning experiences, which means that they will enter kindergarten behind their peers academically and socially. If they're not reading at grade level by third grade, they're much less likely to graduate from high school, reports the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Currently, the state of pre-kindergarten in Harrisburg is somewhat disjointed, comprising puzzle pieces waiting to form a cohesive picture. Many groups are doing their part. In Allison Hill, Kirk Hallett is founder and director of Joshua Group, whose Joshua Learning Center houses a pre-kindergarten serving about 25 children from the surrounding neighborhood. "I see how valuable early childhood learning is for the rest of these kids' lives," says Hallett. "It gives them a chance they wouldn't have otherwise to own their future through education, instead of the alternative. You really want to walk in that classroom and say, 'Guess what, only half of you are gonna graduate?' You might as well go in there and say, 'Which half do we pick?' And that's what's actually going on, in a way." FAMILy FoCuS In the Harrisburg area, the picture starts with Capital Area Head Start, a division of Keystone Human Services, which provides pre-kindergarten and other early learning services for children in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties. With federal funding, Head Start serves families with incomes up to 100 percent of the poverty line, or $24,250 for a family of four. Additional state funds extend services to families earning three times as much, or about $75,000, but in the city, most families served are "either the working poor, or they fall at 100 percent," says Jo Pepper, executive director of Capital Area Head Start. sTarTinG yoUnG Harrisburg no longer offers pre-k. Several groups are trying to fill the gap. By M. DIANe MCCorMICk