Early Childhood Wing

Our Early Childhood Wing provides high quality education for children from birth to the year before kindergarten to prepare them for school success. Our Early Childhood Wing consists of services such as Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), Pre-Kindergarten, and community partnerships with Head Start and Wilder.

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE)

What is ECFE?

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) is a program for all Minnesota families with children between the ages of birth to kindergarten enrollment. ECFE is based on the idea that the family provides a child's first and most important learning environment, and parents are a child's first and most significant teachers. ECFE works to strengthen families and enhance the ability of all parents to provide the best possible environment for the healthy growth and development of their children.

What happens in ECFE?

ECFE programs are tailored locally to meet the needs of families in each specific community. Most programs contain the following components:

• parent discussion groups,
• play and learning activities for children,
• parent-child activities,
• special events for the entire family,
• home visits,
• early screening for potential children's health and developmental concerns,
• community resource information for families and young children, and
• libraries of parenting books for adults, and children's books.

Who participates in ECFE?

Parents and children participate together. Participation is voluntary. ECFE is committed to accessibility for everyone, so fees are based on a sliding fee scale or are waived for families unable to pay.

It is the goal of ECFE to serve a representative cross-section of families with young children in each community. All families have different needs. Programs offer sessions with specific topics to meet these individual needs.

To learn more about ECFE Click HERE.

 

Head Start

In this location, Head Start will operate 2 licensed Head Start classrooms serving 34 children. In addition, 20 PreK Mixed Delivery slots will be located in this school. This site will expand our partnership with Head Start by providing Head Start services to three year old's and four year old's to support children and families in connecting to their school community.

 

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)
This program provides services for children aged 3-5 who have qualified for special education services until Kindergarten. Eligibility is determined after an evaluation is completed. An IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is created with the family to support student needs. 

Services can be provided in a variety of settings:

• Specialized services are available in our half and full day Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) classrooms.
• Special education services are also available for students attending Pre-K and ECFE classes.

To learn more about ECSE, click HERE.

 

Pre-Kindergarten
Saint Paul Public Schools Pre-Kindergarten prepares each child and family for Kindergarten by providing an academically rigorous early childhood education aligned with the district’s K-12 standards-based instructional model.

To be eligible for Pre-K, your child must be: 

• Four years old by September 1st and
• Living in St. Paul

To learn more about Pre-K Click HERE.

To apply, call the Saint Paul Student Placement Center 651-632-3760 or apply online at Bruce Vento.

 

All students can participate in an Early Childhood Screening before they start school. To schedule a screening visit SPPS Early Childhood Screening.