LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- While children can benefit from a preschool education, affordable programs can be hard for parents to come by.
But a new partnership is bringing tuition-free preschool to Louisville.
A gravel lot in Okolona will be home of the tuition-free Bezos Academy preschool, the first of its kind in Kentucky.
"And it's the first of what I believe will be many more," Mike George, Bezos Academy president, said during a news conference Thursday.
The free, "Montessori-inspired" preschool will sit alongside Jefferson's Landing and Jefferson Green apartments.
This rendering shows what Bezos Academy, Kentucky's first tuition-free preschool, is expected to look like when completed in Okolona.
Laandrea Samuels, who lives nearby with her 5-year-old, calls the preschool "a gamechanger."
"The stress of paying daycare, there's been times I'm saying, really in life, I had to think about the daycare. Like, 'I gotta pay the daycare because I know I need to go to work, but I still gotta feed my kids," Samuels said.
The new preschool, which will feature four classrooms, will provide full-day care and meals year-round for up to 80 kids. Any children from the community can go to the school, but the priority for the lottery to get in will be given to kids in foster care or homeless children.
"It's about serving those children, and, by virtue of doing that, we're going to serve the family, and by virtue of doing that, we're going to serve the community," said George.
Bezos Academy is a nonprofit group founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, creating tuition-free preschools across the country for low-income families.
LDG Development of Louisville, which builds affordable housing, will be a partner in opening Kentucky's first academy.
"I grew up in this neighborhood," said Lisa Dischinger, LDG Foundation chair. "For me to be able to contribute (to) this, and to be able to make this happen for our residents, our children, this community is just very emotional for me because I know how important it is."
Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio believes roughly 4,000-5,000 eligible kids in the district aren't in preschool.
"You can see the difference between those that come into kindergarten ready, and those that are not ready," Pollio said Thursday.
It's a tool he and other Louisville leaders argue will help kids succeed in school and in life.
"It's tears of joy. It's tears because this next generation, the stuff we had to go through with our kids, just to be able to lighten that load is a blessing," said Samuels. "It's a blessing for the future to come, because we need this for the community, we do."
If all goes according to plan, the school will start in January 2025.
"Having Bezos Academy to provide tuition-free pre-school is going to help families ensure their children are ready for school on day-one but also serve as an amazing catalyst for change in our entire community," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a news release. "I hope that this program, which connects affordable housing with educational opportunities, serves as a model for resilient community building across our city, across Kentucky and beyond."
For more information about Thursday's announcement, click here.
For more information about Bezos Academy, click here.
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