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Dudley Early Learning Center director outlines birth‑to‑four rollout, capacity and funding plan
Summary
Tricia Grayjack described Dudley’s early‑childhood model, classroom capacities and family‑engagement tools; she said the program serves roughly 110 children across 10 classrooms and is structured to be cost neutral with startup funding from W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Tricia Grayjack, director of early childhood education, told the board that Dudley Early Learning Center serves infants through pre‑K with a mix of tuition classrooms, Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). "We operate 6 tuition based classrooms, serving children ages 6 weeks through 4 years old," Grayjack said, adding that the back hallway hosts GSRP and ECSE classrooms.
Grayjack described family communication practices using the Brightwheel app (daily photos and lesson notes), targeted early interventions (speech and OT on site) and a training space used for family meetings and IEP work. She outlined classroom capacities (two infant rooms at capacity 8 with licensing flexibility to stretch to 12, toddler and three-year classrooms sized as planned) and said the program is responsive to enrollment shifts and will create mixed-age groupings where necessary.
On finances, Grayjack said Dudley’s tuition and reimbursements are held in a separate budget line in the district finance office and that start-up funds from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation are supporting initial operations. "We are designing it to be cost neutral and not an impact to the general fund budget," a district representative said; staff added they will monitor results this year and supplement from general funds only if necessary.
Grayjack requested that board members act as community ambassadors to raise awareness of Dudley programming and noted the center’s staffing credentials: roughly one‑third of staff hold master’s degrees, one‑quarter hold associate-level or CDA credentials, and a substantial portion of staff are district alumni.
