MIDLAND, Texas — At the Helen L. Greathouse Children's Center at Midland College, 3 and 4 year old children get their first look at life in a classroom during Pre-K.
It's an experience that the child center's director, Tanya Price, says can make kids more comfortable with elementary school.
"It gets kids ready for kindergarten, they don't just walk in without any social skills, any type of letter knowledge, so they're ready to have fun and learn," said Price.
The center also provides daycare for toddlers and children 2 years old.
Up until 2019, each age group had their own room that fit up to about 20 kids.
In an MDC board meeting held on June 17, board members approved an agreement to invest $379,000 in expanding the Midland College program.
These funds will be used to purchase two portable buildings that will be placed just yards from the current Greathouse Center, providing space for 4 additional classes of 20 students.
Two classes are expected to be made up of children 3 years old, the other two classes will be kids 4 years old.
MDC officials like Sara Harris say that this expansion will only be phase one of a bigger project.
Children in the new classrooms dubbed the Pre-K academy at Midland College will still have access to all the resources of the Greathouse Children's Center including the playground.
The new classes are expected to be open for the 2019-2020 school year.