Early Childhood Preschool Opens in West Ward

The second of five preschools in Newark is officially open.

Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Early Childhood School West, located in the old Speedway Avenue School in the city's West Ward. The school, tailored for children with things like brightly colored walls and a reading corner with tiny furniture in the auditorium, currently serves 75 three- and four-year-olds.

"Look at the classrooms, look at the restrooms. Those were redesigned to meet the needs of the children at the school," said Assistant Superintendent Roger Leon.

The new preschool joins Early Childhood School South, in Newark's South Ward, which serves 210 kids. Early childhood centers are expected to open in all five wards and the East Ward could be next, said Sandra Rodriguez, Newark Public Schools' director of early childhood.

"Children already come to us brilliant, we know that," said Rodriguez. "We are honoring them by putting the best teachers and teachers assistants before them and challenging the adults to harness more brilliance."

With reading as a fundamental focus for the new West Ward school, the ceremony capped with a visit from Pearson Foundation's ReadMobile, a literacy campaign, and book giveaway.

Thursday also marked the grand opening of located at Louise A. Spencer Elementary School.