Davis School gets ready for more 3-year-olds

The first phase of converting the former James J. Davis Elementary School into an early learning center will be nearly complete when additional classes of 3-year-olds move into the building next week.

Renovations are finished and the staff is ready, principal Don Doggett said.

The timeline for the second phase -- bringing in infants and children younger than 3 -- depends on federal approval, funding and licenses, said Myrna Bolden, Beaufort-Jasper Head Start director. She said she doesn't know when Head Start will begin serving those children at the Davis Early Childhood Education Center.

The Beaufort County School District moved all kindergarten students in the northernmost part of the county to Davis this fall. The district also has five pre-kindergarten classes serving as many as 100 4-year-olds at the center, said Kay Newsome, the district's director of readiness.

On Nov. 30, Head Start will add two classes of 3-year-olds to its two existing 3-year-old programs in the building, Bolden said. Families of children in the Head Start program must meet federal income guidelines.

A fifth class of 3-year-olds then will be filled with paying students whose families exceedHead Start income limits, Bolden said. Several groups are working with Head Start to make that class affordable to families and open the program to more students.

When filled, the five classes will serve 85 3-year-olds -- 51 more than Head Start served in the area before.

The private Sheldon Township Community Support Partnership is developing a plan to award scholarships to the paying students, said Fred Leyda, a member of the partnership. He said he does not yet know how much students will pay for the preschool program.

Beaufort-based Environments Inc. donated about $15,000 worth of furniture and materials, enough to outfit the entire classroom with tables and chairs, paper and crayons, blocks, books, carpets and more. Environments designs, manufactures and distributes children's furniture, educational equipment and curriculum material for early childhood education.

Environments' Employees, such as Natalie Daise, also plan to volunteer and train child care providers and teachers at the school. Daise said the partnership is a result of the business' desire to be more involved with the children and child care providers in the community

"It seemed an excellent opportunity to put our money where our heart is," she said.

For the past decade, the Sheldon Township Community Partnership has advocated for an accredited preschool in the area to better prepare children for kindergarten. The rural community is one of the poorest in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Last spring, the county school board voted to consolidate James J. Davis and Whale Branch elementary schools and convert the Davis building to an early learning center.