North Gulfport Elementary & Middle School pre-registration for PreK4ward now open
Gulfport, Miss. (WXXV)- This coming fall, in the 2025 – 2026 school year, thanks to a collaborative partnership between the Harrison County school district and the United Way of South Mississippi, the pre-k-4ward program is being offered at North Gulfport elementary & middle school in. With the addition of north Gulfport, there will be a total of nine prek4ward classroom locations in the Harrison County School District.
The CEO of United Way of South Mississippi says, “private pre-k is very expensive and some of our families cannot afford that. This is a grant funded program here and there’s a minimal fee, as a registration fee and the children don’t have to bring anything. We supply everything from crayons to scissors, you know to all the paper supplies and all the things they need.”
Learning from certified teachers, the program is giving children a head start.
Harrison County Superintendent, William Bentz says “we’re setting the foundation for learning and we take the whole child approach and it prepares them socially emotionally physically and academically and provides that stepping stone for them and prepares them to read for kindergarten.”
Dominique Brown, the lead teacher at Crossroads Elementary says the program says its gives kids’ confidence to become independent.
Brown says, “a lot of parents don’t realize when going into to kindergarten is self-help skills. Very small things, your bookbag, carrying your lunch tray, memorizing your lunch number. These are things that they have not seen and won’t see until they get in a school setting.”
The PreK4ward program is showing that it improves literacy rates at an early age.
Springer says “they are reading and sounding out words and some of them haven’t turned 5 yet so we know pre-school is so important to their success in kindergarten and they are kindergarten ready right now, they are ready to go.”
Pre-registration is now open for the PreK4ward program at North Gulfport Elementary & Middle School. You can register online at www.unitedwaysm.or/prek4ward.
