TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Leon County Schools will expand free preschool programs at two elementary schools, preparing young children for kindergarten.
- The Head Start programs at Sealey and Astoria Park Elementary Schools will focus on social-emotional skills and classroom readiness for children before entering kindergarten.
- Head Start is a no-cost program for young students and their families.
- Watch the video below to hear from the education leaders behind this program.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Leon County Schools approved an expansion of school readiness programs for children before kindergarten, renewing its partnership with Head Start and bringing the program to more schools across the county.
I’m Justin White, your neighborhood reporter in Southwest Tallahassee, with how this move will benefit Leon County’s youngest learners and their families.
The Leon County School Board approved a lease agreement with the Capital Area Community Action Agency Tuesday night, allowing the agency to operate its Head Start program at Sealey and Astoria Park Elementary School during the 2026–2027 school year.
Darrel James, the director of Head Start at the agency, says this decision will create more options for families.
“It’s a no-cost program, so for, you know, some kids, some families can afford us to send their children to well-known preschool, preschools where you have to pay a large amount of tuition or what have you. But we have qualified staff at Head Start that are really getting our students school ready,” said James.
Brooke Brunner, the Director of early learning for Leon County Schools, says the program will prepare young children for a classroom environment.
“It acclimates them to what a classroom feels like, and what it looks like, and what it feels like to be a student in a classroom. And so a lot of those social emotional skills are taught at that very young age, and so by the time the child is ready to enter kindergarten we have those foundational skills put in place, and now they’re ready to receive the academic instruction that is so important in that kindergarten year,” said Brunner.
The Head Start expansion is set to roll out for the 2026–2027 school year.
In Southwest Tallahassee, I’m Justin White, ABC 27.
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