CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Flour Bluff's Early Childhood Center (ECC) Principal Molli Martinez-Crowley says the campus gets emails and calls frequently from parents asking how they can enroll their children.
"We have approximately 500 students on our campus. We have 2 early childhood special education classes. We have 7 pre-k classes and we have 16 kindergarten classes," Martinez-Crowley said.
Parent Erin Williams gives some reasons as to why the ECC has worked so well for her 2 enrolled children.
"There’s not been a place where we have lived where we felt more welcome and more at home and more like the school is an extension of our family," Williams said.
The principal also echoes the ECC parent Erin William's statement that the teachers are all-in and make the students feel at home.
"As an educator it makes me feel really good that they’re wanting to come in and learn. And as a parent too, I feel like if my child wanted to walk into that classroom and that school, that it would make me feel a lot better," Martinez-Crowley said.
Williams also adds that the school's method of hands-on education benefits her child tremendously. She recalls one instance when her child came back from a field trip, something the campus does frequently.
"She came home and talked about all the things she saw and what she did and how the teachers came back and connected it to what they were studying in the classroom," Williams said.
The ECC principal explained why the school believes in this teaching style.
"[With hands-on teaching] You’re more likely to remember it. You’re more likely to truly make those connections between the world the family and the text that you read. When you have hands-on you’re able to have conversations with pre-k and kinder students," Martinez-Crowley said.
According to a report from Business Insider, the cost of childcare has risen 115%, well exceeding the 74% growth in overall inflation. Something that Principal Martinez-Crowley says she believes factors into the higher enrollment the school is seeing.
"So we’ll get parents that will apply for pre-k because they know they’re going to get that high-quality education. They know that all of our teachers and staff are trained. So I would 100% think they would want to be here because it is free education," Martinez-Crowley said.
Registration is now open for the 2024-2025 school year. To find out more information or to see if your child qualifies, visit the ECC's website.
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