WT, Plemons Stinnett Phillips Enter Partnership to Expand Pre K Access

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

CANYON, Texas - West Texas A&M University and a Panhandle school district are collaborating in an effort to expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten education.

A partnership between WT's Kids Kollege, the University's on-campus childcare center, and Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips Consolidated School District will provide a new, certified teacher for the WT daycare and simultaneously boost the average daily attendance of students the school district serves.

It's the result of a collaboration between the Texas Education Agency and The Texas A&M University System, first announced in 2023.

"The agreement is that a district can extend outside of its boundaries as long as it is providing the education," said Dr. Shawn Fouts, senior director of campus community. "In this case, Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips has a need for more students, and we have a need for a certified early childhood educator. Kids Kollege can now become an extension of the PSP district and provide that critical education for 3- and 4-year-olds."

With funding provided by the PSP district, Kids Kollege has hired Bella Mayo, a May graduate from the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, as its first full-time, certified teacher.

For the purposes of the partnership, children that Mayo teaches on the WT campus will be dually enrolled with the PSP district, similar to the way dual credit works for high-school students taking college courses. Only a certain number of eligible students will be qualified, through income and other factors, for inclusion in PSP's average daily attendance.

The PSP district also will be able to open an early childhood education center in its district because of the additional state funding it will receive by adding to its daily attendance with the Kids Kollege students.

"With the addition of Bella to our staff, the students at Kids Kollege will receive their daily instruction from a certified teacher who will be supported by our district for professional development learning," said PSP Superintendent Jamie Copley. "We look forward to welcoming these students and families and to being part of their educational journey and success."

In addition, having a full-time, certified teacher on the Kids Kollege staff may pave the way for WT's Department of Education to use the childcare center as an official student teaching site.

The TAMUS initiative was made possible with a $2.4 million federal CARES Act grant awarded by the Texas Workforce Commission.

The program develops pre-K partnerships across the state with participating school districts to provide more resources to improve the quality of public and private pre-K childcare programs. A pre-k partnership is a collaboration between a school district/charter school and a high-quality childcare program to provide care and education to eligible three- and four-year-old children.

Eligible childcare programs with new formal pre-k partnership classrooms, including Kids Kollege, may receive an award of up to $25,000 that can be used for start-up costs associated with a new pre-k partnership classroom.

Kids Kollege is a year-round, on-campus childcare facility providing services for children ages 18 months to 5 years. The facility serves the families of WT students, faculty and staff, as well as community members, as space is available. Currently, 29 students are enrolled in the facility's pre-k classrooms; total enrollment is 61.

"The whole goal here is to expand the number of high-quality pre-K programs available and help those that already exists do what they do best - teach," TAMUS Chancellor John Sharp said.

Making a regional impact is a key goal of the University's long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign's new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest's finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men's and women's athletics programs.

Photo: Bella Mayo, a May graduate from West Texas A&M University, was hired by Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips Consolidated School District as a certified teacher for WT's Kids Kollege, a partnership that helps increase PSP's enrollment while also benefitting WT's childcare center.

-WT-

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.