RALEIGH, N.C. — Education leaders across the state and the nation are pushing for ways to better help educate children in pre-kindergarten.

What You Need To Know

  • Wake County Public Sschool System opened the Early Learning Center at Memory Road in November 

  •  The center has the capacity to serve more than 130 preschool students

  •  This is the district's first standalone pre-K center

  • The student population includes both special education and Title 1 students

The global management consulting company, Mckinsey and Company, said preschool enrollment went down across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the nation’s lowest income families experiencing the sharpest drop.

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) is working to help young learners through its first standalone pre-K center, which opened this month.

The Early Learning Center at Memory Road can serve over 130 preschool students. The student population includes both special education and Title 1 students.

Serena Reddick-Lofton is one teacher that will work in the center. She said it’s special because it’s a setting with only preschool teachers and students.

“It just brings the community together because sometimes when you may be the only pre-K class in an elementary school, it’s different, but this is something where we have great teamwork here and we can bounce our ideas off of each other,” Reddick-Lofton said.

Reddick-Lofton, who is from Johnston County, has been working in early childhood development for 26 years. She said she was inspired to be a pre-K teacher by a former teacher of hers.

“Miss Jones. And I just have always taken how she nurtured every child in her class. Everyone was special,” Reddick-Lofton said. “So, I just thought if I could be a Miss Jones for someone else, that will be a great thing.”

This is her first time working in WCPSS and says she is excited to be a part of this new adventure.

“The opportunities are so great. Not only to impact the county, but as well as the families that we serve, diverse, bringing equity to the families that may not have had the opportunity and now centrally located,” Reddick-Lofton said.

The Johnston County native said this center is a great opportunity to prepare students to be lifelong learners.

There will be eight classrooms inside, a space for student evaluations, therapy services, as well as an outdoor learning space and indoor movement spaces. Reddick-Lofton said she feels that in the right atmosphere, all children can learn.

“We serve students that come from all areas of Wake County Schools and for this opportunity for them to be able to come in and have all the resources that their families need right in one building, to our therapists, to our observation rooms, it is a great opportunity where families can come in and feel a part of the family,” she said.

The school system said it needed additional space to accommodate the large number of students in preschool special education. There is also a waiting list for students who are eligible for pre-K services based on academic need.

With all the services that are offered in this one building, Reddick-Lofton feels the center could set the precedent for great things to come in other counties, and that’s something to look forward to.

She says she would love to see all of our regions have an early learning center.

“Often times families feel alone in their journey trying to receive the resources that they need for their children, but we have it her,” she said.

The WCPSS said the center is strategically placed in a part of the county where there is a high concentration of students who qualify for the pre-K services provided. Those high-quality services improve long-term outcomes for students, according to the district, and it expects the need and the demand for these services to continue to grow.