LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In just two years, a plot of land on River Park Drive will be transformed into a brand new early childhood education center right in the heart of the Russell neighborhood.
Project leaders who announced the plan a month ago now are welcoming input from the community.
"A good start, a stable environment, good education. I hope to achieve all of those things," Lisa Dischinger, chair at LDG Foundation, said.
The school will accommodate up to 80 preschool and Pre-K students. It's part of Bezos Academy's nationwide effort to expand services before kindergarten.
The center projected in renderings will also be just a walk away from hundreds of new affordable housing units being built.
"Having enough seats available and having those seats be affordable – we thought one of things to help close that gap is to eliminate the affordability piece by offering free tuition," Sabrina Watkins said.
Watkins is a regional partnership development leader with Bezos Academy. She told WHAS11 they chose Louisville because of clear holes in access to early childhood education.
They're partnering with JCPS, which continues to deal with high percentages of young students in poverty struggling to be ready for kindergarten and low literacy rates in the grades to follow.
"To reach those students that are at risk is definitely what we want to reach to make sure they have quality education," Carlisa Gibson, early childhood development director at JCPS, said.
There is concern among local childcare centers.
Some owners who showed up to the public meeting Tuesday said they support the Bezos Academy's effort but fear it could interrupt what they're already doing for families.
"It's very real for people to be afraid that they are not going to lose not only the children that they serve but their staff, so there has to be those professional development opportunities that Bezos Academy offers," Kristen Williams said.
Williams is the executive director at Playhouse Cousins Collective. She believes there must be community collaboration in order for everyone to win.
"In 2025, if we’re not best friends, then we have failed. The community needs to know what's happening, they need to know what the practices are, what's the culture they have to be part of building that culture," she said.
In the months to come there's hope the relationship between project leaders and residents grows alongside the construction that will soon start on this land.
Children who are homeless or in the foster care system will be first priority for enrollment at the new preschool.
The Russell neighborhood location is one of two in Louisville announced by Bezos Academy both set to open in 2025.
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