Last year, PRE4CLE granted three high-quality preschool providers, Fundamentals Academy, The Centers for Families and Children, and The Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland (CEOGC), funds to start new classrooms. CEOGC’s Union Miles Head Start took advantage of the resources that came at a time when they also moved into a new building. The building, at 9250 Miles Park Avenue, is a former library and current home to the Union Miles Development Corporation. The Start Up Grant allowed CEOGC, the organization that runs the preschool, to expand the site from two classrooms to four.

On March 1^st, CEOGC hosted an open house to show the new site off to the community. PRE4CLE joined CEOGC leadership, Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed, and representatives from Senator Sherrod Brown and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge’s offices to speak at the event that also included a performance from the preschool students and a ribbon cutting ceremony.

“We are pleased to bring our high-quality preschool program to the Union Miles community,” said Dr. Jacklyn Chisholm, president and CEO of the Council for Economic Opportunities. “Our Head Start program introduces a new world of learning to children and families and ultimately strengthens neighborhoods as well as the larger community. We are so grateful to PRE4CLE for helping to make this new location possible.”

“Our arts-oriented classrooms and curriculum focus on the child’s experience: it’s their world and we are living in it,” said Dr. Thea Wilson, vice president of Children and Families at the Council for Economic Opportunities. “With each new opening and through our 17 Head Start locations, we are investing in Cleveland’s future.”

Our next round of Classroom Start Up Grants have been issued and will be used over the next year.