Charlottesville outlines early‑learning center plan, interim site and three‑year timeline

Charlottesville City Schools officials presented detailed plans for a new early learning center that will consolidate six preschool sites, start with roughly 200 students and an approximately 60‑member staff, and operate from an interim Walker campus while the district finalizes a permanent site.

The presentation to the School Board said the center will emphasize early literacy, inclusive instruction and family engagement as the district works on schematic designs for a permanent campus. District leaders said an Oak Lawn site the city acquired from the University of Virginia is under technical review but that the timeline for building would leave the preschool at interim facilities for about three years.

District staff said the center’s operating model will align preschool instruction with kindergarten expectations rather than treating preschool only as “kindergarten‑ready.” The presenter, Dr. Korab, said the district’s goal was to be “kindergarten strong” — a baseline that pushes preschool instruction toward stronger early literacy, math, executive‑function and family‑engagement benchmarks. She said this year the work starts with literacy, adding that pre‑K has not been included in the Virginia Literacy Act and that the district is providing staff professional learning on early‑childhood literacy and the science of reading through an “early childhood letters” course.

Officials said staff will use a common letter‑sound system already used in kindergarten and above (HMH materials) to improve vertical alignment. Dr. Korab said the preschool will include co‑teaching and classroom strategies to support inclusion without lowering benchmarks. She described twice‑monthly professional learning for the consolidated staff and a shared drive to house common instructional resources.

On operations and facilities, the district said VMDO is the architect working on schematic options for both an interim and a permanent site. The Walker campus is the planned interim location; the district also is evaluating Oak Lawn after a consultant report produced by Mitchell & Matthews for UVA identified workable areas and constraints. Staff said the Mitchell & Matthews documentation should allow VMDO to make design decisions faster and that, given the work already done, the district expects decisions about next steps in the first quarter of the coming calendar year and an interim period of about three years before occupancy of a permanent campus.

To increase family access, the district said it has negotiated a memorandum of understanding with the YMCA for after‑care at the consolidated early learning center; that service will be fee based and is intended to offer longer‑day options families told the district they need. The district also described planned community partnerships for adult learning, family classes on site and other wraparound services.

District leaders emphasized the project’s staffing and program details: current enrollment slots are roughly in the low 200s (district materials cited about 217 slots awarded in state funding, while current enrollment numbers were reported around 190–221 as applications were processed). Dr. Korab said the district hopes to start the center at capacity and to put outreach and enrollment events in place (preschool and kindergarten enrollment on the same day) so families can apply with assistance.

Board members asked about site trade‑offs, including Walker’s existing space and Oak Lawn’s transit access. Dr. Korab said Oak Lawn offers some benefits — “more bus line options, more frequent stops” — but stressed that the interim plan does not lose momentum regardless of the permanent‑site choice. She said community input and schematic design work will continue through the fall and that VMDO would develop site‑specific plans if Oak Lawn is selected.

The presentation included an anecdote in which Dr. Korab described volunteering with a horse rescue and said she is exploring “outside‑the‑box” supports (including therapeutic animal interactions) as part of long‑term programming ideas; she framed that as an aspirational example of the type of nontraditional supports the district might consider.

Board members and staff said the district will continue to refine enrollment criteria, funding scenarios and operating hours and to coordinate with central office on staffing reconfiguration before moves occur.

The board did not take a vote on a permanent site; staff said design decisions are expected in early next year and that the consolidated early learning center will operate from interim facilities for about three years while design and construction proceed.