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Malden's Example

Boston Globe Editorial, Tuesday, May 31, 2005

One in a series of editorials on the state's new early-education initiative.

The Malden Early Learning Center, part of the city's public school system, is one example of the high-quality preschool experience that all children should be able to have. It is a model for state officials as they build a new universal preschool program.In one classroom, 3- and 4-year-olds are reading about and cultivating ladybugs, checking to see whether their live larvae have grown into ladybugs yet. In the library, students gather in what looks like a reading gazebo. The walls are well-stocked bookshelves. Cushions line the floor. A teacher sits just outside, reading a book aloud.The Learning Center's cheerful halls and classrooms are covered with children's art. Play stations abound, as do magnifying glasses, magnets, and pictures of stars and planets. Children can even plunk away on the wooden keys of a giant, sonorous xylophone.Veronica Papenfus, a Malden school system administrator, says she would have liked even more features -- perhaps an indoor garden and rooftop playground. But the Learning Center sets a high standard.It opened in the fall of 2003 after architects renovated a former public school. State funds paid 90 percent of the renovation.The school serves 350 children, 100 of whom are special education students. Classes mix special and general education students, based on the philosophy that all children have something to offer their peers. Working parents can enroll their children in before- and after-school programs that stretch from 7 in the morning to 5:30 in the evening. All but one of the Learning Center's teachers have master's degrees. They get the same salaries and professional development as do Malden's public school teachers, helping the Learning Center attract and retain highly qualified teachers, while other early-education programs can afford to pay only lower salaries and face high staff turnover. The salaries in Malden are paid through tuition fees and grant money for scholarships from the Department of Education. The parent-teacher organization also does some fundraising. The center has a full-time nurse and a social worker who serves parents and children.Parents and staff from other preschools can use Learning Center resources. Supporting other preschools helps keep a healthy array of early education choices available to families.Given that the Learning Center and other area preschools have waiting lists, Papenfus would like to see a second early learning center built in another part of the city.

Indeed, the state needs more programs like this that bristle with the very excitement about learning that prepares young children to excel as they enter school.

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