Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program in Valley Stream, NY (New York, Hempstead: 2010, home)

[nildap21]

I lived in brooklyn all my life and recently moved to Valley Stream a few years ago before I had the babies. I am really upset that in certain parts of LI they have universal Pre Kindergarten programs but not in Valley Stream meanwhile in the 5 boroughs there is a school in every corner that participates in this program. I also noticed there are no Head Start Programs either which is really bizarre to me as well. Since I am new to the neighborhood I was wondering if anyone else was upset about this as well? Maybe we can start an awareness to this issue and to get it implemented in Valley Stream?
I have researched all the nursery school/PreK programs in Valley Stream and I think the prices are an outrage. There has to be another way working parents do not break their pockets every month looking for a school for their children. Sending them to school so they can interact with other children cost more than damn childcare these days. It is Crazy.

[fopt65]

[]

Good luck in this economy getting home owners to dig even deeper into their pockets to pay a higher property tax bill to pay for this.

2010 should be a real joy for homeowners as we get to pay for the things the stimulus plan covered last year, make up for the pension shortfall that the wall street crash caused, and deal with the state's proposed cuts to education.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by nildap21

I lived in brooklyn all my life and recently moved to Valley Stream a few years ago before I had the babies. I am really upset that in certain parts of LI they have universal Pre Kindergarten programs but not in Valley Stream meanwhile in the 5 boroughs there is a school in every corner that participates in this program. I also noticed there are no Head Start Programs either which is really bizarre to me as well. Since I am new to the neighborhood I was wondering if anyone else was upset about this as well? Maybe we can start an awareness to this issue and to get it implemented in Valley Stream?
I have researched all the nursery school/PreK programs in Valley Stream and I think the prices are an outrage. There has to be another way working parents do not break their pockets every month looking for a school for their children. Sending them to school so they can interact with other children cost more than damn childcare these days. It is Crazy.

Valley Stream is a solidly middle class community. Parents in Valley Stream "take care of their own" when it comes to the cost of child care and do not expect to be supplemented by the government with additional programs. That is the way it is in Valley Stream. Since we are not a poverty stricken community we cannot very well demand the level of services given to parents who are low class.

If you wanted Head Start, you should have moved to somewhere that is much lower class (Freeport, Roosevelt, Hempstead, Uniondale, etc.) where the Federal government supplements education because of poverty in the area.

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

If you wanted Head Start, you should have moved to somewhere that is much lower class (Freeport, Roosevelt, Hempstead, Uniondale, etc.) where the Federal government supplements education because of poverty in the area.

slap!

[Coney]

I basically posted this reply on the other universal pre-k thread.

There used to be a headstart program in Hempstead. Don't know if it is still there. There also used to be a summer prekindergarten program for children who will be attending kindergarten that fall in VS District 24. I doubt if there will be any chance of a prekindergarten program in the Valley Stream schools any time soon. It was not that long ago that kindergarten in district 24 was half day only. The childcare center on Sunrise Highway closed quite some time ago even though the empty building is still there. You could try Wooden Shoe, but yes, you will have to pay for it. We do not have universal prekindergarten on Long Island. The districts that do have prekindergarten programs are run by the individual school districts and are not funded federally. At one time, East Rockaway was interested in implementing a universal pre-k but it was decided that it was too expensive. The private childcare programs have also declined the idea because the reimbursement for a universal pre-kindergarten tuition is much lower than what they can get from parents and that with less money, the quality of the programs would suffer.

[Coney]

Kindergarten is not mandatory in New York State. So there is no legal requirement for districts to offer kindergarten, let alone pre-kindergarten.