Elkmont Elementary school. Photo courtesy Elkmont Elementary school

The statewide new addition of 58 new classrooms set to join Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program will include a new classroom unit, when the 2025-2026 academic year begins, at Elkmont Elementary School. 

Citing Gov. Kay Ivey’s recent announcement that the program is  expanding statewide, Limestone County Schools said parents of students currently on a waitlist for a slot in a First Class Pre-K classroom at Elkmont will be notified of their child’s status soon.

Ivey announced the nationally recognized program’s expansion last week, noting that the 58 new classrooms for 2025-2026 will bring the statewide classroom total to 1,528. 

Alabama First Class Pre-K program extends access to “high-quality prekindergarten programs in their communities” for 4 year-old children who are not yet old enough to enroll in kindergarten, according to the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE). The program serves more than 24,000 Alabama children and has been awarded the highest quality rating by the National Institute for Early Education Research for 19 consecutive years.

Two additional locations in Limestone County also will be able to extend their Pre-K offerings under the recently-announced expansion. Julian Newman Elementary (part of the Athens City Schools system) and Peaches ’n’ Cream Playcare in Athens each will add new classroom units in addition to the new unit at Elkmont Elementary.

“Over the last two years, the ADECE has placed a renewed focus on strengthening program quality while increasing grant awards to better support classrooms,” the department said in a release. “The percentage of First Class Pre-K teachers on a waiver has dropped from 14% for the 2022-2023 school year to just under 7% in 2024-2025. This significant progress reflects the state’s strong commitment to quality education.”

“The early years of a child’s life are the most critical for laying the foundation for all future learning, behavior and health,” Ivey said in announcing the expansion. “High-quality prekindergarten programs like Alabama’s First Class Pre-K don’t just prepare our children for kindergarten, they lay the foundation for lifelong achievement. By adding these new classrooms, we are not only investing in our children, we are investing in the future of Alabama.”

For more information about Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program, visit its website at children.alabama.gov/adece/first-class-pre-k.