Vacant Grand Rapids Public Schools building to be revived

The former Roosevelt Child Development Center (641 Vries St. SW) has not been the home of regular classes for several years, but soon, the building will be home to a new, free preschool for three- and four-year-olds in the neighborhood.

The Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, a child development program funded by a $5 million grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, plans to remodel the building for classes that could begin as early as June.

The free preschool will prepare under-advantaged children for kindergarten, greatly increasing the probability that the children will stay in school and graduate, says Director Nkechy Ezeh, Ed. D. She adds that the neighborhood has only one existing preschool at Cesar Chavez Elementary School.

"The families live in a high poverty area," Ezeh says. "There's not a whole lot of time for the parents to spend with children and have family fun times that middle- and high-income families have. For every dollar we spend on these children, we get a return on it. Otherwise, we will pay for it in the future -- those that are not reading by third grade will drop out of high school. The impact is just too much for us to continue and to unintentionally put our children on this path."

Plans include a $108,000 rehabilitation that includes roof repairs, leveling an old step-down entryway, and making the building A.D.A. compliant.

The four-classroom structure will accommodate 16 children in each classroom with two early learning bi-lingual teachers for each class. The schedule is in flux right now and could involve either morning and afternoon preschools, or one preschool session in the morning followed by a Baby Scholars program in the afternoon funded by the Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation. The schedule will be firmed up over the coming months, Ezeh says.

Source: Dr. Nkechy Ezeh, Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

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