Parents or guardians looking to register children in a prekindergarten class in the city or county will have more options this fall.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the addition of 135 First Class Pre-K classrooms across 41 counties for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, and four of them will be local units.

Athens City Schools will get three new pre-K classrooms, one each at FAME Academy at Brookhill Elementary, SPARK Academy at Cowart Elementary and HEART Academy at Julian Newman Elementary. This will be the second pre-K classroom at HEART, while iAcademy at Athens Elementary already has two units.

“We are thrilled about the new funding for pre-K classrooms,” ACS Superintendent Beth Patton said. “We understand pre-K provides an important foundation because, for most children, it’s their first experience with school and has the power to set the tone for their future educational experiences. We know these three additional classrooms will allow us to serve more children and help give them a strong start to school and learning.”

Limestone County Schools will get a second pre-K classroom at Cedar Hill Elementary. LCS already has pre-K classes at Blue Springs Elementary, Cedar Hill Elementary, Creekside Primary, Elkmont Elementary, Johnson Elementary, Piney Chapel Elementary, Sugar Creek Elementary and Tanner Elementary.

“That’s really exciting,” LCS Superintendent Randy Shearouse said. “It expands the opportunities we have to get more kids in school earlier, and there is a lot of research that shows pre-K students are successful and more ready to start kindergarten or first grade. There is always a benefit to teachers, too, because they learn a lot of procedures in pre-K they’ll use in kindergarten and first grade. It makes the transition easier, and we’re thankful the governor approved that additional unit.”

According to a release from Ivey’s office, this is the first round of new classroom funding released by the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Additional classrooms will be funded based on further evaluation of high-needs areas prior to the commencement of the 2021-2022 school year.

The additional pre-K classrooms bring the total number statewide to approximately 1,373, serving 24,714 children.

“Alabama’s First Class Pre-K has been recognized as a national model for delivering high-quality early childhood education and gives our youngest citizens a strong start to their educational journey,” Ivey said. “I am glad to see that even more students will have access to pre-K next year and look forward to the day that all Alabama families who want pre-K for their children have access.”

According to the release, students who participate in the Alabama First Class Pre-K program are more likely to be proficient in math and reading, with no evidence of fade-out of the benefits of high-quality pre-K over time.