Where passersby might peer into the two new preschool classrooms at Nanakuli Elementary School and see blocks and books and tot-sized furniture, Principal Lisa Ann Higa sees a head start that disadvantaged students urgently need.

Kindergarten is the starting line for a student’s schooling, career and life, says Higa, a three-decade educator. Metaphorically speaking, though, “many of our students are still tying their shoelaces or looking for their shoes before they can even get to the starting line,” she said — meaning many have arrived at Nanakuli Elementary without preschool experience, or basic academic, social-emotional or physical skills and maturity.

However, “if given those opportunities” such as free public preschool, Higa adds emphatically with her signature wide grin, “yes, we can compete with the best and the brightest.”

These are among the reasons that the two renovated preschool classrooms — the first Leeward Coast additions to the state’s Ready Keiki initiative to create statewide universal access to public preschool — are being hailed by officials and parents as a godsend. The two classrooms opened Monday following a news conference and ribbon-cutting ceremony with about 60 people, including dignitaries such as Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, educators, parents and students.

The nearly 40 prekindergartners, along with their parents and teachers, streamed into the two brightly lit, freshly painted and newly furnished classrooms, taking it all in with wide eyes, soft gasps and exclamations of “Ooh!”

None of the tiny new students cried at being left, already too busy playing and exploring their new surroundings. But a few parents shed tears of happiness or relief or both.

The state’s Ready Keiki initiative aims to open 465 public-preschool classrooms statewide by 2032, to create preschool access for all of Hawaii’s 3- and 4-year-olds. The first 11 classrooms opened in August, a year ahead of schedule. Luke has said she expects about 80 classrooms to be ready to open at the start of next school year and about 50 more each following year, with a mix of renovated existing classrooms and new structures.

Broadening preschool access is crucial everywhere but especially in underprivileged or underserved areas, officials said.

Nanakuli Elementary serves the Hawaiian homesteads of Nanakuli Valley and Princess Kaha­nu Estates, according to the school’s StriveHI report. At the Title I school, about 83% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The preschool classrooms “mean a lot,” said state Rep. Darius Kila, who grew up on the coast and represents Honokai Hale, Nanakuli and Maili. “It’s always been ‘tooth and nail’ to get really good things for this side. Every dollar here will always be maximized.” He called the support from the state administration “unprecedented.”

The urgency became clearer in December with the release of data from the state Department of Education’s new statewide assessment of kindergarten readiness. Only 29.6% of children statewide entering kindergarten in Hawaii’s public schools this fall demonstrated “baseline readiness” for school, with basic language, math and social skills, and physical development.

In the Nanakuli complex it was 18.4%.

Nanakuli Elementary actually wasn’t scheduled to receive its two new Ready Keiki preschool classrooms until August.

During the news conference Luke, who is leading the Ready Keiki initiative, credited Higa with moving up the timeline by telling state officials, “We want to try to take care of as many people as we can, because we don’t want to turn down folks on the West side, because on the West side we don’t have enough preschool space, we don’t have enough quality child care.” The school previously had one classroom for 15 preschoolers that was funded by the state Executive Office on Early Learning, but this fall the school also had a waitlist of dozens more families.

Higa said she juggled her state school budget to find about one-fourth of the money needed to renovate the two classrooms, which each cost about $400,000. State agencies such as EOEL and the School Facilities Authority filled in the rest, she said.

She said she did it because school-level data has shown preschool is already making a measurable difference. More of those students who started in Nanakuli Elementary’s EOEL preschool classroom are reading on grade level than those who had no preschool, she said.

Back in 2013, when Higa became principal of Nanakuli Elementary, the percentage of third graders who were reading near, at or above their grade level was just around 30%. Over the years the school also has added support services to help children obtain basics such as food and clothing, and Higa said she has emphasized professional training for teachers, to augment their skills and their understanding of their students’ community, and to improve retention. Now about 70% of third graders are reading on grade level, she said.

Adding more preschool seats is part of Nanakuli Elementary’s larger strategy to continue to help the “whole child,” Higa said.

As 4-year-old Talon-Bo Watson explored his new classroom, his mom, Mercy Watson, said she felt immense relief at landing a seat for him. Mercy, who is a Nanakuli High math teacher and volleyball coach, and her husband, Nanakuli High football coach Kili Watson, had had no luck in their previous long search.

“We were like, ‘What are we going to do?’ All of the places we looked at either cost an arm and a leg or they were also waitlisted,” Mercy Watson said. “I spent a lot of time trying to apply for financial aid, because it’s almost like another rent or mortgage payment — it’s like $1,400 a month! … So we ended up just resorting to keep him home.”

But then Nanakuli Elementary called, and now Talon-Bo was gleefully opening and shutting cabinets and peeking into books, and showing none of the nervousness he’d expressed earlier about starting class. For his educator parents, “Getting him into preschool was so important to us,” Watson said.

Other keiki on Day One were already painting swirls on paper, building block towers and testing the area rugs by rolling around on them. Their first day was a full day, with group discussions, a classroom tour of the equipment and supplies and rules, and lengths of time for exploration.

“This first day is always … what gives the kids a sense of security. A sense of ‘OK, I belong, the teacher loves me,’ the kids’ friends are respectful,” said teacher Delia Kiraly. “I want them to go home and say, ‘Wow, I had such a comfortable time.’”