WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 4, 2018 3
Glendale preschool abruptly shuts UPK program
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BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
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Happily Ever Aft er Daycare and
Preschool on Myrtle Avenue in
Glendale suddenly shut down
their universal pre-K program last
Friday which provided early learning
to 30 children.
"As of Monday, Oct. 1, Happily Ever
Aft er is no longer off ering Pre-K for All,"
said Isabelle Boundy, assistant press
secretary for the Department of Education
(DOE), in an email to QNS on Oct. 1.
As of Tuesday night, the DOE stated
in a follow-up email to QNS on Oct. 3, 25
of 31 UPK enrolled families have been
connected to alternate sites within half
a mile of Happily Ever Aft er Daycare
and Preschool and are following up
with the remaining families.
DOE was in the process of approving
Happily Ever Aft er’s budget when
the site notifi ed us of their decision
to withdraw from the program on
Friday, Sept. 28. The site did not share
any fi nancial concerns related to their
Pre-K for All contract, but expressed
concerns about their privately funded
program that they felt could not be addressed
by support from the city. This
contradicted claims made by sources
on Monday about the reasons for the
program's abrupt closure.
The DOE also said that they work
with any site that has fi nancial concerns
to ensure preschools can continue providing
services and off ered this support
to Happily Ever Aft er. The DOE spokesperson
further indicated that Happily
Ever Aft er did not communicate any
fi nancial concerns or accept support
from DOE before abruptly closing.
According to individuals familiar
with the situation, parents of the 30
pre-kindergarteners at Happily Ever
Aft er only learned of the closure on the
day that it happened.
In April of 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced that New York City would
off er free, full-day preschool to all
3-year-olds within four years.
Making free, full-day prekindergarten
available to all 4-year-olds was the
most visible and ambitious promise
that de Blasio made when he campaigned
for mayor. In September 2014,
full-day prekindergarten enrollment
grew to 53,000 from 19,000 a year
earlier. It reached 68,000 the next year.
This increase in publicly funded
preschool programs in NYC paralleled
the increase in free pre-K education
across the nation. A 2016 report from
the National Institute for Early Education
Research, 43 states including
the District of Columbia and Guam
provide publicly funded preschool,
serving about 1.5 million children
in total. The cost that year for school
spending was $7.4 billion.
Research conducted by the National
Institute for Early Education Research
(NIEER) shows children who attend
preschool are healthier, develop better
health behaviors, and are more likely
to access health care of all kinds and
receive better nutrition. Lower stress
in early childhood has been linked
to lower incidence of adult cardiac
disease. Adults who attended strong
preschool have been found to be less
likely to smoke and engage in other
behaviors that have high health risks.
Happily Ever Aft er Preschool and
Daycare has not responded to a request
for comment from QNS. The school's
nursery and regular day care programs
were not aff ected by the UPK closure.
Robert Pozarycki
contributed to this report.
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