If you’ve been in San Antonio for the last few years, chances are you’ve heard about Pre-K 4 SA. Pre-K 4 SA is San Antonio’s program to provided free pre-k classes for everyone. The program is in it’s first year and there are two campuses: one on the north side, and one on the south side, and next year there will be two more campuses. Last week I had the opportunity to visit the north campus, which is in the medical center area.
In the interest of honesty, I’m not a huge supporter of the Pre-K 4 SA model. I think if the city wants to provide free state of the art pre-school, then it should be open to everyone and not just to the children who already qualify for other free pre-school programs in the city. Right now, 90% of students qualify based on need and 10% are tuition paying students. The north campus has 360 students, with 20 students and two teachers in every class.
My personal reservations aside, I think that if you qualify for Pre-K 4 SA then you should definitely enter the lottery for admission. This school is wonderful. There is a gourmet chef in charge of the food and when I talked to the assistant director, it was clear that she was passionate about her students.
The reason I was at the school was to attend their inaugural farmers’ market. If you read my other farmers’ market post then you know how much I love going to the market! Once a month each campus will hold a farmers’ market that will provide fresh produce to students and their families at cost. River City Produce provides the produce along with Selrico’s to the schools at cost.
The fair is run by parent/family volunteers. I attended the fair with my kids, and they loved walking around picking out baskets of fruit and veggies, and the fact that every basket cost a dollar made it easy for them to figure out how much everything cost.
I think the school produce market would be an awesome initiative for every elementary school. It’s a great way to involve the community and it’s wonderful for students and their families.
If you’re interested in learning more about the options that Pre-K for SA you can check out their website here. If you want to enroll for the lottery, you can go online here beginning February 24.
How would you like a fresh produce market at your child’s school?
I’m not a mom but I really enjoy the posts I receive here.
I like to plan family outings for the weekends and the PreK 4SA farmers markets sound awesome! What weekends of the month are these held? Do my kids have to be students there?
Have you heard of Marburger Farm? It’s a great day trip during the spring-summer months for a “pick your own” peaches and berries experience. My boys insist on two to three trips every year.
Great article, Sarah! It was nice meeting you there, and hope to see you at an upcoming San Antonio Bloggers meetup soon.
Peace & Veggies,
Larissa
I love the idea of a farmers’ market for kids and families! Definitely wish my son’s school had something like this. Thank you for sharing, Sarah!