Preschool costs chiseled
Calistoga’s middle income families offered financial assistance
By Connie Wolfman
For The Weekly Calistogan
Still a fairly new program, the Calistoga Preschool Assistance Fund, has helped 17 local 3- and 4-year-old children join the back-to-school procession this month. Some middle income residents may be surprised to learn that the fund, initiated in 2006 by the Calistoga Family Center, is designed to benefit them.
“Lower income children are being well-served by the state preschool program which has been operating since 2001, and upper income families can afford preschool,” said Stephanie Snyder-Parry, Executive Director of the Family Center. “It’s a big stretch for middle income parents.”
The fund provides up to $100 per month for a total of $1,000 per year for each child who qualifies. Parents of preschoolers must reside or be employed within the boundaries of the Calistoga Joint Unified School District.
Families must also qualify financially. For example, a family of four with an annual income up to $73,900 is eligible. That might sound like a generous cutoff point, but for working parents who want to enroll their child in preschool full-time, the local price tag is $760 per month. That adds up to an eye-popping total of $9,120 for one full year.
“I did some research a couple of years ago, and that is more than you would pay to send a child to Berkeley,” said Snyder-Parry. Her comparison is still valid — tuition of $8,400 for state residents attending Berkeley costs less than preschool again this year.
“Most families have to start a savings account to be able to send their kids to college, and they have 18 years to accumulate the money,” Snyder-Parry continued. “But preschool is at the beginning of most families’ earning potential, and they usually have several kids.”
Recipients are allowed substantial flexibility when choosing a preschool which enables parents to opt for a school that is convenient to their workplace. So far, the Preschool Assistance Fund has supported children in five locations including St. Luke’s and Highlands Christian preschools in Calistoga. Recipients have also enrolled at Discovery Land in Angwin, the St. Helena Child Development Center and, in one case, at the Children’s Discovery Center in Santa Rosa.
St. Luke’s Preschool in Calistoga offers students part-time enrollment for a minimum of two days up to full-time enrollment of five days per week. The majority of parents choose a school schedule that averages three days per week, but that is still often a financial challenge according to Christina and Jim Small, co-directors of the school program.
To help defray the cost, St. Luke’s has its own scholarship program that pays 25, 50 or 75 per cent of the tuition, depending on family income level. The Preschool Assistance Fund is often willing to support children who are recipients of scholarships as long as the combined assistance does not exceed 50 per cent.
Initially, St. Luke’s aimed their scholarships directly at lower income families, but that is beginning to change. In 2006, the school’s board of directors learned that most of St, Luke’s scholarship recipients were eligible for the Calistoga State Preschool which is free of charge. As an example, a family of four qualifies for the state program if their annual income does not exceed $48,372.
St. Luke’s has since raised the school’s income ceiling for scholarship eligibility in order to reach out to middle income families as well.
All of this math is working to the advantage of the Becker-Stafford household, a Calistoga middle income family of four. They rely on assistance to afford the cost of sending 4-year-old son Jayden to St. Luke’s Preschool two days per week.
“We might try to make it work, but financially it probably would not be possible (without help),” said Nadene Becker. “Living in Calistoga is too expensive, and now we have another child.”
The Becker-Stafford family receives $100 each month from the Calistoga Preschool Assistance Fund in addition to a scholarship from St. Luke’s of $76 per month. The combination of that financial aid whittles away 58 per cent of the $304 monthly bill for Jayden’s tuition, resulting in a manageable out-of-pocket expenditure of $128 each month.
Is it worth it?
Although preschool is not a drop-in program that can be purchased by the day, the Smalls say the easiest way for families to weigh the benefits versus the cost is to research the dynamics of a preschool on an average day, and then compute how much that day costs. Then, they suggest comparing that calculation to the cost of one day of childcare that does not include educational enrichment.
For example, at St. Luke’s Preschool, the daily rate is $38. The school has three full-time teachers who are trained in Early Childhood Education (ECE), and it maintains a minimum 1 to 12 teacher-student ratio daily.
Teaching is based on the High Scope Curriculum which involves training in literacy, cognitive and socialization skills. The nondenominational school is open 10 hours per day Monday through Friday so parents have latitude when tailoring the hours of their child’s daily schedule.
Currently, 12 students at St. Luke’s receive aid from the Preschool Assistance Fund, and 50 percent of their students receive school scholarships.
There are five other children receiving financial help from the Preschool Assistance Fund this year who have enrolled at Highlands Christian Preschool. Lessons in that school’s half-day program are based on the High Reach Learning Curriculum. Both teachers there also have ECE training, and the school maintains a 1 to 7 teacher-student ratio according to Director Teena Ingram.
Support for the fund
The Calistoga Rotary provided $5,000 seed money to jumpstart the Preschool Assistance Fund in 2006, and First 5 Napa County added $7,000. Additional early funding included an anonymous family foundation donation of $5,000 and $4,050 from private individuals.
The fund got a big boost in October 2006 when John Shafer made a challenge grant of $25,000 as part of Shafer Vineyards’ annual commitment to philanthropy in the Napa Valley.
“The Shafer grant is to be used over three years with the expectation that we can raise another $25,000 to match it,” said Snyder-Parry. “That enables me to go out in the community and keep people engaged. If we match it, that means a total of $50,000, and that is 50 kids who can be served.”
First 5 Napa County has already responded with another $5,000, and Snyder-Parry is optimistic about raising the remaining $20,000 by October 2009.
The Preschool Assistance Fund has helped 31 children with the cost of early education since February 2006. Fifty-two per cent of that group speaks English as their first language and 48 percent are Spanish-speakers.
“The kids are learning all day long, preparing them for kindergarten. Preschool benefits Jayden a lot, even at home,” laughed Becker, citing an unforeseen perk of preschool training. “Sitting at the dinner table, Jayden even raises his hand before he gets up to leave.”