Savannah Classical Academy to offer new Pre-K program for 2022-23 school year

Savannah Classical Academy (SCA) will offer a new Pre-K program for the 2022-23 school year. The SCA's Governing Board of Directors approved the new program in November 2021 and will accept 22 students.

SCA CEO Barry Lollis said when the school renewed its charter with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) in 2019, he proposed the idea of a starting a Pre-K program. Lollis said because of the charter agreement with SCCPSS, the state allows the school to operate as K-12 school so the new Pre-K school will be its own legal entity.

Lollis said that means that the program will be a partner or an affiliate of SCA, adding that the Pre-K program will be more like a feeder to the school's kindergarten program with students from this new program getting priority during the lottery process.

An estimated $300,000 has been budgeted for the first year of expenses for the program, which includes a new Pre-K facility.

Lollis said during a typical school year, the school takes in about 50 kindergarten students and 22 of those spots will be reserved for those in the Pre-K program.

COVID created a need for more Pre-K education

Lollis said the pandemic, the benefits of the program and parental requests for something like this were factors in why the school wanted to start a Pre-K program. He said the pandemic increased a stronger need to prepare children for kindergarten.

“I really felt like we get to jump start children in their educational process in the Pre-K program,” he said.

Statewide Pre-K programs are free and state funded programs for four year-olds that are not mandatory, according to Georgia.gov.

Since the program is still in the planning stages, the school is scheduled to complete a Pre-K building by mid-January. The school is a planning to accept applications for its new program in February but has not released a time frame.

The program will follow the same academic calendar as the regular school year. The school plans to hire a teacher and an assistance teacher for the Pre-K class.

In order to qualify for the program students will have to be four, but based on their birthday, a five-year old can be accepted. Outside of the charter schools, SCCPSS offers Pre-K programs at various elementary and K-8 schools. Other SCCPSS charter schools don’t offer pre-K programs.

SCA has 432 students enrolled for fall 2021 cohort and has 52 employees.

Bianca Moorman is the education reporter. Reach her at BMoorman@gannett.com or 912-239-7706. Find her on Twitter @biancarmoorman.