CLAY TWP — Dassa McKinney Elementary School in the Moniteau School District will offer new opportunities for preschool children this spring.

A second pre-kindergarten program will open in the Moniteau district in mid-February, adding to the number of pre-K programs in the county.

Dustin Thompson, principal, and Nicole Fox, assistant principal, received news that the school will be a site for Pre-K Counts, a state Department of Education program.

“It’s all happening and happening fast,” said Thompson.

The school is approved for 17 students for the remainder of this school year.

“We’re looking at a mid-February start,” Thompson said. “We’ll be ready.”

In July, Steven Green, chief executive officer for the Butler County Children’s Center, encouraged the district to apply for the state grant.

This year’s application followed several applications in previous years.

The school already partners with the Children’s Center to offer Head Start for one classroom of pre-kindergarten students at the school.

Dassa McKinney will host the new program, and the Children’s Center will operate it.

“It is their program that they run. It is staffed by their employees and it’s the Pre-K Counts curriculum,” Thompson said.

Dassa McKinney will use the school website and other means to publicize the program. However, Thompson said all of the registration will be through the Children’s Center.

“It’s a proven program supported by the state. It’s going to be a great partnership for these kids to get an early start on their education,” said Thompson, who noted that options for structured early childhood education are limited in the Moniteau district.

Academic and developmental components will help children learn skills for school and how to interact with classmates and peers, he said. They will learn appropriate behavior and increase their listening and speaking skills.

The grant is part of the larger push by Gov. Tom Wolf to increase the number of children with access to pre-K. This month, 5,300 more children gained access to these programs statewide.

The state has promised full funding for Dassa McKinney’s program for the 2016-17 school year, Green said. He declined to disclose the amount of this grant.

While both Head Start and Pre-K Counts prepare children for kindergarten, eligibility for the programs differs.

Head Start serves children from families whose income is less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, roughly $32,000 for a family of four.

Pre-K Counts has an income level cap that is more lenient, accepting children from families making less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level, about $73,000 for a family of four.

Adding a new program is particularly helpful in the Moniteau district where the Head Start waiting list has 15 children, Green said. Those students will be accepted into the new Pre-K Counts program, he said.

Both programs are open to 3- and 4-year-olds for two years, helping them adjust to an academic environment before kindergarten, Green said.

“It’s a huge benefit to the community,” he said. “We really targeted that area to bring quality pre-K in.”

While Dassa McKinney’s Head Start program has 20 students, Pre-K Counts can only accommodate 17 this year. It hopes to expand for 2016-17, Green said.

He said the program will have two teachers and one aide.

“It will be a big step in the right direction,” Thompson said.

He said Pre-K Counts will be free. The children will be at the school from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. five days a week.

Green’s organization opened Pre-K Counts programs in the Butler and Karns City school districts in 2007.

The state tracked the students at those two programs, watching their progress through third grade relative to students who did not have access to pre-K. Program participants had a significant advantage and did better than children who do not go to pre-K, Green said.

However, only one in every six children is enrolled in a pre-K program, according to a statewide survey by the nonprofit Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

Pre-K programs not only help students prepare for kindergarten but the programs also serve the community, Green said. The same survey reported that every dollar invested in pre-K programming leads to $17 in community savings later, citing reduced costs in the criminal justice system and social services.

While the grant for Dassa McKinney was supposed to be awarded in July, the state budget impasse held that up, Green said. This can cause some questions when opening another educational center without an official state budget, he said.

“We’re concerned, but we believe it’s worth the risk,” he said.

Pre-K Counts also is available in the South Butler School District where it is offered through Lifesteps rather than the Butler County Children’s Center.

Wolf said that the partial budget signed last month contained about a quarter of the funding he sought, and he hopes to add more as budget talks continue.