Covering our schools
This story is part of the Dayton Daily News’ ongoing coverage of education as students return to school for the new academic year.
Moraine Meadows School, which was closed in 2010 by Kettering City Schools, has been reborn as a multi-faceted early childhood education center.
It will serve as everything from a pre-school center for employees of the school district to one serving special needs kids in different wings of the building.
The 54-year-old school on Holman Avenue, tucked into a neighborhood and separated from Interstate 75 by the City of Moraine’s Ora Everett Park, is the new home of several pre-kindergarten programs, including those previously housed in the district’s D.L. Barnes administrative center on Far Hills Avenue.
Cindy Smith, supervisor of Community Literacy Programs for Kettering Schools, said between 160 and 180 children eventually will be in the building following a staggered start as the school year begins during the next two weeks.
The programs housed there will include:
- Integrated Pre-School, for special needs children and all others ages 3 to 5. The district offers the same program at three other schools: Greenmont, Indian Riffle and Oakview.
- Pathfinders Preschool, which strives to prepare 3- and 4-year-olds academically and socially for kindergarten. It's also offered at the district's John F. Kennedy Elementary School.
- Kids Club, a child care program for kindergarten students in the Kettering District, which serves a portion of Moraine. For example, if a child attends morning kindergarten, he or she might attend Kids Club in the afternoons. The popular program is near capacity.
- Head Start, a federal program that Montgomery County offers at several other locations in the Dayton area.
Smith said there has been a steady stream of neighborhood students “in the 9 to 15 age range” who have come into the school since Moraine Meadows reopened. “Many of them went to elementary school here and haven’t been back inside since it closed. They wanted to come into the gym, to see their handprints on the wall.”
One of the traditions at Moraine Meadows was for students to dip their hands in blue paint and leave their handprints in rows along the wall.
“Even though we are doing renovations here, we will not be painting over those,” Smith said.
Kari Basson, community relations director for Kettering Schools, said the move of some programs to Moraine Meadows makes sense “because we were bursting at the seams at the Barnes building.”
She said that besides maintenance and utilities, expenses for the district will be minimal because the pre-school, Pathfinders and Kids’ Club programs are fee-based, although some financial assistance or scholarships are available.
Moraine Meadows’ students and staff were shifted to Southdale Elementary beginning in 2011.
The building has been mothballed until now.
For more information about Moraine Meadows and its programs, contact Smith at (937) 433-1450. An open house for parents will be scheduled.
About the Author