PreSchool Partners celebrates 25 years of serving families

Amanda McCray looked all over Birmingham to find a preschool for her son. Three-year-old Tyson is her first child, and she wanted to be selective about where she sent him.

PreSchool Partners, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this academic year, met McCray’s criteria. She attended a parent interest meeting last summer, applied and was added to the waitlist.

Executive Director Lella Carl Hamiter then reached out in early October to notify her of Tyson’s acceptance. He started the next day.

“When Miss Lella called me, I was so, so happy,” McCray said.

PreSchool Partners is a nonprofit started in 1995 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook by Bill Black and Jeanette Hancock, two church members who recognized a need for early childhood education while tutoring students at a school in downtown Birmingham.

According to Hamiter, PreSchool Partners’ mission is to give students the skills they need to be successful in kindergarten, so they can start school ahead of the game rather than behind.

“What makes our program unique, though, is that we offer reduced tuition — greatly reduced tuition — to families if a parent or a primary caregiver can participate in our parent program on Monday morning,” Hamiter said. “Ninety-five percent of our parents do participate in our parent program.”

PreSchool Partners serves around 100 students between ages 2 to 4, the majority of whom are from low-income families, Hamiter said. Most only pay $1,000 per year for their child to attend. That’s a sharp reduction from the standard annual tuition, which is covered largely by donors.

“We are providing the highest quality early education to families who need it the most but can afford it the least,” Hamiter said.

PreSchool Partners is at 4447 Montevallo Road, between Mountain Brook and Irondale, in a red-brick building with a life-size box of Crayons on its lawn. It has been there since 2015, and the land it sits on used to be the home of McElwain Elementary School.

Mountain Brook resident and St. Luke’s member Mike Mouron purchased the elementary school, knocked it down and spearheaded a capital campaign called Operation Schoolhouse. The $3.4 million it raised funded the school’s construction.

“Most of the volunteers at PreSchool are from Mountain Brook, and so it just was the right place at the right time,” Mouron said.

Mouron, who is the chairman of Capstone Real Estate Investments, said it was important to him and his wife, Kathy, to contribute to such a worthy cause. Studies have shown that students who lag academically upon entering kindergarten struggle to catch up.

“I think the only way we as a country are going to break this cycle of poverty is through education,” Mike Mouron said.

PreSchool Partners used to meet at St. Luke’s on Mondays and Trinity Presbyterian Church from Tuesday to Friday. Hamiter said that getting a building of its own provided the school a major boost. The space is tailored to its needs and features a parent meeting room, student classrooms and an outdoor playground.

“That’s been one of the biggest game-changers,” Hamiter said, “is to have a home of our own.”

PreSchool Partners adheres to a structured curriculum that teaches letters, numbers, shapes, colors, sounds, rhyming words and name writing. In the past two years, almost all graduating students have tested ready for kindergarten, Hamiter said.

She credits the positive outcomes to students, parents and devoted teachers who see their job as a calling.

“They’re looking at this as a ministry,” she said. “I think they have a servant’s heart, and they’re doing this because they know what they’re doing is making a difference.”

PreSchool Partners also makes it a priority to educate parents. On Monday mornings, the school brings in specialists who talk about topics such as pediatric nutrition, stress management and budgeting. After the lecture, parents read with their children for 30 minutes. The school gives books to families weekly so they can build a home library.

“Really, it’s helping them be partners in their child’s education, which is how we got our name, because of partnerships,” Hamiter said.

On a Monday in mid-October, PreSchool Partners held a health fair that featured a pediatric dentist and a representative from Children’s of Alabama. The school distributed car seats and bike helmets, and offered flu shots to parents. All are examples of how the school strives to serve its families.

Another example is the community job board on which local businesses can post openings that parents may be interested in, along with the college scholarship program the PreSchool Partners has started for its graduates.

Angela Stafford, a parent, said she appreciates all the school does. “I love the parent meeting. I love the fellowship. I love the stuff we learn here,” she said.

Stafford’s 4-year-old son, Christian, began attending PreSchool Partners in 2018. She said he was born prematurely and received physical and speech therapy through an early intervention program.

One of Christian’s therapists told Stafford about the school, so she attended an interest meeting. It didn’t take long for her to realize that it was the right place for her son.

“I was sold on everything they talked about, how good it is, and the partnership between the parents from home to here, and I was sold on it,” Stafford said. “It was exactly what I was looking for him.”