The Yakima (Wash.) district is converting its Discovery Lab School, an elementary school in Yakima, into an Early Learning Center.
The conversion is an outgrowth of the district's strategic plan, which emphasizes early learning and kindergarten readiness, reports The Yakima Herald-Republic.
District officials said the Discovery Lab site was the only logical choice for an Early Learning Center. Constructing a new building or site would have required passage of a bond issue and would have taken many years, according to the district’s website.
The site is also next to an existing early learning center, Seedlings, which is run by the Enterprise for Progress In the Community (EPIC) and Educational Service District 105, according to its website. The proximity could lead to potential district collaboration, according to the Yakima district.
The district’s early learning services now are spread out among four sites. Next school year, the sites will be reduced to two, and much of the operations will be moved to the Discovery Lab site. By 2023-24, the site will become the district's consolidated Early Learning Center.
