Midland College is helping to address two critical challenges in our community--shortage of quality early childhood opportunities and a shortage of teachers in Midland and surrounding West Texas communities. A new building--the Midland College Pre-K Academy & Center for Teaching Excellence--will open in Fall 2023.
QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD OPPORTUNITIES
The project will allow MC to expand its existing pre-k academy from 68 seats to 288 seats, thereby fulfilling a dire need in the community for quality pre-k education.
Many Midland students are starting kindergarten without the skills they need to succeed in order to boost early literacy and achieve academic achievement. Studies indicate that students who attend pre-kindergarten have heightened vocabulary scores by the time they enter kindergarten, improved attendance through their school years and increased high school graduation rates.
All students within the Midland ISD area are eligible for the MC Pre-K Academy with special consideration given to those in families who are characterized as low-income.
TEACHER PREPARATION AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
The new building will provide a home for Midland College's new Early Childhood Education bachelor's degree program.
The new baccalaureate degree program will increase quantity and quality of early childhood education teachers in the region as early as 2026. Students who complete the baccalaureate-level program and obtain the Texas Teacher Certification Early Childhood-3rd Grade will fill a critical gap in the teaching pipeline.
This is the first teacher preparation program in the West Texas area where students enrolled in the program can actually interact with children and receive hands-on training on-site from the beginning until the end of their education.
WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP
The majority of funding for this project has been made possible by lead gifts of $10 million each from the Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) and Scharbauer Foundation, grants of $1 million or more by Abell-Hanger Foundation, The Beal Foundation, Henry Foundation and Warren Charitable Foundation, and generous contributions from individuals, families and businesses in the community. However, we still need your financial help so that we can finish the project and meet the needs of Midland and West Texas.
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