A new Pre-K Counts classroom for young learners recently opened in Langhorne thanks to a historic infusion of $79 million in early education state funding that is being distributed to local early learning centers. Baby Genius Day Care Center, a 4-STAR program, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate this expansion, which provides access to Pre-K for 18 children, many of them Ukrainian refugees.
Victoria Yesypenko, owner of Baby Genius Day Care Center, welcomed Senator-Elect Frank Farry (R-Bucks), Representative-Elect Joe Hogan (R-Bucks), Middletown Township Police Chief Joe Bartorilla and Children First executive director Donna Cooper to tour the facility and mark the new classroom with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Yesypenko noted that the 18 new slots filled quickly and she’s had to put dozens of kids on a waitlist. In Bucks County, 67 percent of eligible children do not have access to high-quality, publicly-funded Pre-K.
“This is the type of program there shouldn’t be a waitlist for,” said Farry, who awarded Yesypenko with a certificate of recognition from the state Senate for her recent certification as a 4-STAR center. “This program is going to give these young boys and girls here a better opportunity to succeed and be productive in society.”
He noted that quality Pre-K programs save communities “potential criminal justice costs, human services costs and more down the road so it’s money well spent in terms of the investment.”
Hogan agreed. He said, “Now we have two voices in Harrisburg that can address the waitlist issue. It’s important to have programs like this so children are learning from a young age how to share, how to be good neighbors and friends. These are critically important skills.”
Bartorilla added, “In addition to the academic benefits, high-quality Pre-K programs have also been shown to reduce problematic social and self-control behaviors that hinder student learning and can lead to future delinquency and crime.”
More than 3,000 Bucks County children are losing out on their early education because there are just not enough high-quality, affordable Pre-K openings available.
“Ages zero to five are the most important years for brain development,” said Cooper. “Which is why high-quality centers like Baby Genius are so important. Every child has one shot at an early education and every child should be able to go to great programs like this.”
The Pre-K Counts expansion classroom at Baby Genius Day Care Center was made possible by the infusion of $520,000 new state early learning funds in Bucks County. The 2022-23 state budget included an additional $60 million in funding for the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Program and $19 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. Together, this new funding will allow roughly 2,300 additional students statewide access to high-quality Pre-K. Pre-K Counts and the Head Start State Supplemental are the primary state funding sources for high-quality Pre-K in Pennsylvania.
