Preschool and pre-K in a YMCA? Yup, it’s being planned for this Columbus branch
The YMCA is working to create not only a new branch in Columbus. The projected facility also is expected to include a new concept for the area.
So when a midtown branch opens in two or three years at 1829 Midtown Drive, across Boxwood Boulevard from the Columbus Public Library, certified trainers would help folks get in shape while certified teachers educate 3-year-olds in preschool and 4-year-olds in prekindergarten.
An early childhood learning center would be unprecedented for the YMCA of Metropolitan Columbus, president and CEO Christopher Bryant told the Ledger-Enquirer. But the idea isn’t new in Georgia. In fact, he said, pre-K classes at YMCA branches throughout the state make the Y the largest provider of pre-K education in Georgia.
The initial estimated size of a midtown branch’s early childhood learning center is three classes comprising a total of 50 students.
It’s an opportunity to add YMCA members to the current list of approximately 10,500, Bryant said. And adding these classes to the Columbus YMCA’s youth programs — such as after-school care, sports and child-watch, a childcare service for parents using the facility — is a natural evolution of services, he said.
“We see it as a need for more childcare facilities in our area,” he said. “… There are resources available to us right now that we can go and seek to lay the foundation and become more of a part of the early-learning initiative.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
