Feedback from families has prompted the Shaler Area School District to reconsider where the Pre-K Counts program will be housed for the 2026-27 school year.
Through the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, Pre-K Counts, a free pre-kindergarten for eligible 3- and 4-year-olds, has been available at Shaler Area since 2013, beginning with a classroom at Reserve Primary before expanding to all four primary schools.
As the district proceeds with a reconfiguration that will see Shaler Area Elementary School closed after the 2026-27 school year and fourth and fifth grades moved to the primary schools and sixth grade to its middle school, the school board in April approved an agreement with the council to have Pre-K Counts only at Reserve.
But after hearing feedback from families, Superintendent Bryan O’Black said that for the 2026-27 school year, Pre-K Counts will be housed at both Reserve and Shaler Area Elementary.
After the 2026-27 school year, all Pre-K Counts classrooms will move to Reserve as part of the district’s new K-5 elementary model and the closure of the elementary school.
O’Black said the district “wanted to provide a more centralized location for the 2026-27 school year and give families ample opportunity to plan moving forward.
“Given that fourth grade will no longer be housed at SAES, we now have available space within the building. As part of this revised plan, families who previously utilized the Burchfield or Scott Primary School sites will now attend programming at SAES, while families from Marzolf and Reserve will utilize the Reserve Primary School location,” he said. “This revised approach is directly in response to the feedback we received from families and is intended to better support accessibility and provide more advanced notice for the total program relocation to Reserve.”
The school board in June will revise the agreement with the Private Industry Council to include Shaler Area Elementary for 2026-27.
“It is important for folks to know that we do listen to their concerns and when possible we always work for mutually beneficial solutions,” O’Black said.