Educators and administrators from the Christian County Public School System along with members of the community came together to cut the ribbon on the Martin Luther King Jr. Early Learning Center on Wednesday.
Before the ribbon was cut, some of the folks who worked to turn the learning center into a reality shared how the building came to be and how it will benefit some of Christian County’s youngest learners. The early learning center was established at what used to be the Indian Hills Elementary School campus.
Toward the end of last year, the school system announced a campus transition plan which saw the closure of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. Hopkinsville Middle School is transitioning to the MLK Elementary School campus and Indian Hill Elementary School is transitioning to the Hopkinsville Middle School campus.
At the ribbon cutting, District Superintendent Chris Bentzel says on May 17 the learning center was still Indian Hills Elementary School and now the building is ready to meet the needs of young learners, their parents and educators.
During his tenure as superintendent, Bentzel says he found that early learners were under served and there weren’t enough daycare resources for parents. Bentzel says he believes the learning center has a bright future and that it will be key resource focused on kindergarten readiness and childcare. He also shared that his own grandchild is set to attend the learning center.
Tracy Pelletier, from the Christian County Education Foundation shared that the building has a special place in heart. Pelletier says she was once a student at Indian Hills Elementary School, later she became an educator at the school and her children also attended the school. Now her grandchild will also be attending the learning center.
The foundation began its work over a year ago and Pelletier says their first mission was to find a way to provide accessible childcare. Pelletier says she is happy to not only provide learning opportunities for children, but to also a resource for working parents.
The learning center opened to students in June and Bentzel says currently around 100 students are enrolled in Inspire Academy and by September around 240 preschoolers will be enrolled. Renovations are still underway in order to expand the building’s capacity.
