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City of Seattle opens Miller Annex preschool facility

SEATTLE (March 6, 2018) – Today, the City of Seattle announced the opening of a new preschool space adjacent to Miller Community Center. The Miller Annex is the result of a $3M partnership between Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Seattle Preschool Program to increase the quantity and accessibility of licensable preschool space in Seattle.

The Miller Annex center will be a part of the Seattle Preschool Program and serve 80 three and four-year-old children in this new location. Two classrooms will open in March 2018 and stay open throughout the summer. All four classrooms will be open for operation for the 2018-19 school year. Applications for the ’18-’19 school year will open on March 15 at www.seattle.gov/applyspp.

As part of the Seattle Preschool Program, Seattle voters set aside $8.5 million to support the expansion, renovation, or improvement of early education facilities to help ease the pressure on early learning providers to find usable space for preschool classrooms. The Department of Education and Early Learning invested $1.7 million of Seattle Preschool Program Levy funds for the Miller Annex tenant improvements.

The Miller Annex of Miller Community Center is owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation who contributed approximately $1.3 million in funding to significantly upgrade the facility. The construction process consisted of substantial alterations to the core of the building, including seismic, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and energy-related improvements.

All four of the preschool classrooms will be operated by Launch, a provider who has been with Seattle Preschool Program since its first year. Launch (formerly named Community Day School Association) offers high quality preschool, before & after school, and summer programs for children ages 3-12.

Approved by voters in 2014, Seattle Preschool Program providers receive funding from the City, intensive coaching and training for their teachers, and access to teacher education and facility improvement funds to offer high-quality early learning opportunities for Seattle’s four-year-olds and income eligible three-year-olds.

The Seattle Preschool Program helps prepare children to enter school with the skills they need to succeed. Research shows that children who attend high quality preschool programs have better academic and life outcomes: they’re more likely to have better grades, graduate, attend college, get a job, have higher lifetime wages and better mental and physical health.