A ribbon cutting was held Friday to mark the opening of the YMCA Children’s Learning Campus and Early Learning Laboratory at Oak Grove Elementary School.
The Y’s new Children’s Learning campus is located in a 6,000 square foot wing in the Oak Grove Elementary School.
“It was designed based on visits to 10 other early learning centers in New York, Missouri and Kansas,” said YMCA Executive Director Mark Cartledge.
The new learning center was created based on a partnership between the St. Joseph School District, Missouri Western State University and the YMCA.
“The partnership is built on the idea of making sure our children are absolutely ready for Kindergarten, and also making sure that Missouri Western students have some of the best field study available,” Cartledge said.
It’s the third YMCA Early Learning Center located in St. Joseph. However, a duel curriculum with the St. Joseph School District is a different feature included with the new center.
“Once they reach preschool age of 4-years-old typically, where they would go into Kindergarten the following year they’re in a duel curriculum,” Cartledge said. “They actually spend three hours a day in the St. Joseph School District part-day preschool program that has a high school curriculum.”
72 children is the capacity for the new facility and there are still many openings.