Interestingly, last week, we celebrated “Week of the Young Child” and soon thereafter, the 2020 State of Preschool report was published. Typically, the State of Preschool only has information on the prior year, but this year’s edition also has a special section to address the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on state-funded preschool programs. There were some startling findings.

• Growth in state-funded preschool had slowed, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. This decline was only the second time since 2002.
• The pandemic imposed a huge setback on Pre-K with decreases in enrollment and spending. Reductions in enrollment occurred for two reasons: Parents didn’t want to enroll their child and state preschool budgets were cut.
• There is great variability across states as to who provides high-quality, full day preschool. Pennsylvania ranked 28^th for preschool accessibility. Only 22% of PA’s 4-year-olds and 11% of 3-year-olds were enrolled.
• The minimum per child cost for all day, high-quality preschool in PA is $11,976. PA is currently spending $6,849. This amount ranks PA as 13^th in the nation for what is spent for Pre-K.

This data supports what we saw in our Happy Hearts preschool and Pre-K Counts programs. Less children were served both in terms of typical children and children with special needs.

We are currently promoting our Happy Hearts preschool for Fall. If you are interested in more information about Happy Hearts, please email Nina Wolfarth at NWolfarth@barberni.org

Happy Hearts is…

• A compassionate, stimulating environment with caring students
• Children are invested in their materials and their learning
• Staff are committed to quality care
• Kind, Safe & Independent (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports)
• Leave your cares to us!
• Where quality Child Care matters
• We stand for Excellence!
• Community and Employees find trust in us!