When the first tiny preschoolers at Fern Elementary School peer shyly into the door of their cheerful, newly renovated classroom on the first day of school, far from their thoughts will be the historic significance of the moment.
That it’s taken more than two decades for the state to finally make major progress on its promise of universal preschool access, or that this Kalihi classroom is in the vanguard as one of the first 11 of at least 465 public preschool classrooms in a $200 million-plus construction plan the state plans to carry out statewide by 2032, will all be distant considerations here.
On day one of school, these 3- and 4-year-olds at Fern will mainly just be learning to let go of their parents’ hands, to eat school lunch, find the potty, and make friends with each other and the wiggly tetra and guppies in the class aquarium.
“At first it is really just about getting children to understand what this is, exploring our classroom environment … that this is their classroom as much as mine,” said Akiko Miyata, a 14-year early-childhood educator who, along with an educational assistant, will teach Fern Elementary’s inaugural preschool class. “There will be a lot of building trust with the children, giving them a safe and fun place to learn and grow.”
Such scenes will unfold across all 11 of the first free public preschool classrooms opening this week under the state’s Ready Keiki initiative — seven on Oahu, two on Maui and one each on Hawaii island and Kauai (see accompanying list, with application information) — as the new school year kicks off today for students at most Hawaii public schools. (Most public charter schools, private schools, the University of Hawaii and private colleges also will start classes over the next couple of weeks.)
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week was granted an early look at the Fern Elementary preschool classroom, a bright and breezy refuge welcoming students starting Tuesday in the mauka half of the campus on Middle Street.
Tailor-made classrooms
Once a crowded space for older elementary grades, the room was emptied over the summer and made like new, with fresh panel flooring, furniture and paint, and sage-green area carpet and accent walls.
Numerous pint-size stations are set up for art, quiet reading, small-group discussions, blocks and more. A miniature make-believe kitchen will encourage role play. Miyata bought the aquarium and fish herself, though; it wasn’t on the state procurement list, but she wants her charges to learn to care for other living things.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who is spearheading the Ready Keiki initiative and who led the Fern visit, said careful thought was invested in many of the classroom’s details. Bookshelves with open backs surrounding the carpeted area will allow teachers to more easily keep children in their line of sight, she said. Plumbing was redone in the bathrooms immediately outside the door: Sinks are now at a height suitable for tiny tots, and toilets are barely a foot tall.
A stack of blue nylon cots is supplied for nap time.
“Certain low-income families don’t even bring a blanket, or children compare blankets,” Luke said. “So we wanted to make sure that we provide cots so that no kid will feel self-conscious.”
Luke says the 11 new preschool classrooms are launching a year ahead and within budget under the Ready Keiki plan. But she acknowledges that in a sense they are overdue: It was 24 years ago when the state Legislature first passed legislation in 1989 that called for universal access to preschool for all Hawaii 3- and 4-year-olds by 2000.
The state Executive Office on Early Learning Public Pre- Kindergarten Program launched in the 2014-15 school year with 20 public preschool classrooms at 18 campuses, and had more than doubled by last school year. But still the state was providing free public preschool to fewer than 1,000 keiki.
Overall, only a little more than half of Hawaii’s 35,3000 keiki ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in prekindergarten programs, and 95% of those children are at licensed private prekindergarten institutions, which is costing families hundreds of dollars to more than $1,000 per month. Assuming the families of about 20% of children in this age group typically opt out of such programs, approximately 9,000 of Hawaii’s preschool-age children are yet underserved.
Saving time, money
Luke said lessons learned from renovating the first 11 classrooms will save the state money and time, and possibly allow it to build more classrooms than initially expected.
When the 2022 state Legislature first budgeted $200 million for preschool construction and renovation, lawmakers had roughly estimated the cost at $1 million each. When the Ready Keiki plan to build 465 public preschool classrooms was announced in January, it projected that the first new classrooms would welcome students in August 2024.
But this early round of classrooms cost about $410,000 apiece to renovate, she said, and the Fern classroom took only two months to fix up.
Efficiencies came from making bulk purchases of identical flooring, paint, furniture and other items for all 11 classrooms — a formula she said will be repeated as the state aims to open at least 80 public preschool classrooms by next fall, and about 50 more classrooms each following year.
“If we can try to scale and have more bang for the buck … we can get more classrooms out of the $200 million,” she said.
So far, student enrollment in the first 11 Ready Keiki classrooms has been uneven — some have had more applications than spaces, while at Fern just four students were enrolled for its 20 seats as of last week.
Sometimes people assume that only low-income families are allowed to enroll in public preschool, Miyata said, but that is not the case.
The application for preschool through the state Executive Office on Early Learning says priority is given to special-education students, keiki who are in foster care or unstable housing, multilanguage speakers, at-risk children and families with gross income at or below 300% of the federal poverty guidelines, but those criteria are not requirements.
Miyata said since the public preschool initiative is still relatively new, some families also might not know about it yet, or may be deciding whether they can entrust their keiki to the program. Or they may still be learning about the importance of early childhood education. The curriculum provided by the EOEL includes academic as well as social-emotional learning.
“A lot of what we do for children is guiding them and teaching them skills so that they can become even better learners when they go into the K-5 world,” Miyata said. “I want them to love school for all the years they have up ahead.”
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First 11 Ready Keiki state preschool classrooms
Under the state’s Ready Keiki preschool initiative, classrooms for free, public prekindergarten are opening at the following campuses:
Oahu
>> Fern Elementary School
>> Honowai Elementary School
>> Kaewai Elementary School
>> Lincoln Elementary School
>> Pope Elementary School
>> Sunset Beach Elementary School
>> Wahiawa Elementary School
Hawaii island
>> Waimea Elementary School
Kauai
>> Kilauea Elementary School
Maui
>> Hana High & Elementary School
>> Wailuku Elementary School
Including the 11 new classrooms, there are 45 partnering preschools in the state Executive Office on Early Learning’s Public Prekindergarten Program. Application deadlines vary by school. Go to readykeiki.org/apply. More information: earlylearning.hawaii.gov, 808-784-5350.
