Gering C4K Is Top of the Heap

There’s no metaphor here. There’s a heap of dirt . . . and preschoolers and highschoolers  . . . and a dignitary or two, including Gering School Superintendent Nicole Regan. At first glance, it may not look like much, but this heap of dirt and the people gathered about it are part of an innovative new project to help the community build preschool capacity.

In 2019, at the height of the pandemic, Laura Barrett, the Administrator of ESU 13, applied to be part of Communities for Kids’ (C4K) third cohort in Nebraska because preschool classrooms in Gering were filled to capacity, with much more need than there were seats. C4K immediately began hosting local events and performing childcare surveys in the area. Results showed that, in addition to preschool gaps, Gering needed more infant care spots and transportation for families to get children to providers.

Jen Sibal, Director of Communications for the Gering school district, said it became clear in building a strategic plan that “there just weren’t enough preschool opportunities in our community.” By addressing the immediate need for preschool seats, the area could open up spots for local home-based and center providers to focus on infant-care deficits.

As part of the 2019 plan, the district performed a grade realignment, moving 6^th grade from elementary school to middle school, which freed elementary space for new preschool classrooms. Between 2021 and the present, the district was able to add 5 new preschool classrooms to the three local elementary schools, a move that dropped the initial C4K assessment of a 280 preschool-seat deficit down to 180 seats.

Still the gap persisted. Sibal says there continued to be an incredibly strong demand in enrollment: “We’d open enrollment in one of those new classrooms on a Monday, and, by Friday, we were at capacity.” In 2022, the Gering C4K team worked with the school district, local businesses, and providers to brainstorm solutions. It was the district’s Director of Business Stacy Rodriguez who found an interesting solution.

Rodriguez knew that Gering High School’s Construction Trades Pathway advanced students had been building homes in the community for over 30 years. Sibal said, “they have this longstanding tradition of building these incredible homes for people.” They thus began conversations with the trades teacher at the high school and with local architects, asking them to submit designs for a new preschool building.

Remember that heap of dirt? On November 13, 2023, high school students broke ground on a project that Superintendent Regan called “a historic moment for Gering Schools.” On the campus of Northfield Elementary , Gering High School trade students launched the build of a new 5,000-square-foot facility that will house 4 preschool classrooms.

The groundbreaking brought some of the preschool students who will benefit from the new facility together with the older students who will build it. High-school student Navaeh Laeger summed up the community-focused nature of the project, “it’s an honor to build this and give this early learning opportunity for Bulldogs who will be in our shoes one day.” Dr. Regan emphasized this point when she said, “it’s a win for the students building it; it’s a win for the future preschool students who will benefit from it; and it’s a win for our taxpayers as we address early learning needs with minimal financial impact.”

Rachel Sissel, Associate Vice President of Early Childhood Programs for the State C4K team and coordinator of the Gering area, calls the high school solution, “so innovative,” and adds, “Gering is exceptional as a school district on how they support early childhood.” She offers as an example their commitment to providing transportation to and from childcare providers.

The new preschool, which is slated to be ready for students by the fall of 2024, will provide 40 new seats (2 existing classrooms will also be moved there). This does reduce the preschool gap but does not end the demand for more seats. Sissel says that Gering and Scottsbluff have begun working together along with the C4K team to find further solutions to childcare needs. In the meantime, that heap of dirt slowly becomes a much-needed preschool because a community came together to find cost-effective and innovative solutions for their children and families.

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