Students enrolling in the Head Start program at John Glenn Schools may be offered another class in another building.
John Glenn School Superintendent Christopher Winchell explained that a request was made to host an additional Head Start class at Walkerton Elementary School. With a concern about classroom space at the Elementary School, Winchell told the school board last week that a discussion started with the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church about hosting the classes at the church. He said the Catholic Church used to host elementary catholic school classes at the church so the classroom space would be available there. The additional class could expand even further, if needed, in the space at the Catholic Church.
Winchell said the John Glenn School Corporation is part of the St. Joseph County/Elkhart County Head Start Consortium and conversations have started to coordinate the potential transition.
“We’re working through that right now with the John Glenn School Board, the Head Start Consortium Board, and the South Bend-Fort Wayne Diocese,” stated Winchell. “Bascially, I had asked the board to give me permission to go ahead and move forward with moving our Head Start classes over to St. Patrick’s Church school if we’re able to get everything ironed out with the Diocese and with the Consortium.”
As for the potential cost of the move, Winchell said most of the expenses are through Head Start.
“Basically, the Consortium pays for the Head Start program, but we have some in-kind expenses that we cover like maintenance and custodians. Even though they pay for the transportation service, sometimes there are some additional transportation expenses that are in-kind,” commented Winchell.
The school board members gave Winchell their support to continue the work needed to complete the transition. Winchell said it is a positive move to help as many students as possible as they make their way to kindergarten.
