Middletown Daycare Opens New Pre-K Classroom Funded Through State Support

In Middletown Township, a brand new Pre-K Counts classroom for young children has just opened.

The classroom is due a historic infusion of $79 million in early education funds from the state, which is being provided to neighborhood early learning centers, according to officials from the nonprofit Children First.

A ceremony to mark the expansion was held earlier this month at Baby Genius Day Care Center on East Lincoln Highway in Middletown Township.

The addition of $520,000 in new state early learning money in Bucks County allowed the Pre-K Counts expansion classroom at Baby Genius Day Care Center to be built.

The new classroom at the Middletown Township center will give 18 kids, many of whom are Ukrainian immigrants, access to pre-kindergarten education.

The 18 additional openings from the new classroom filled up immediately, according to Victoria Yesypenko, owner of the center.

Yesypenko said she had to add scores of children to a waiting list.

In Bucks County, 67 percent of children who are eligible lack access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-k, according to Children First.

Senator-Elect Frank Farry, a Republican from Langhorne Borough; State Rep.-Elect Joe Hogan, a Republican from Middletown Township; Middletown Township police Chief Joseph Bartorilla; and Children First Executive Director Donna Cooper cut the ribbon and toured the new classroom.

“This is the type of program there shouldn’t be a waitlist for,” said Farry.

Farry also awarded Yesypenko with a certificate of recognition from the Pennsylvania Senate for her recent certification as a 4-STAR center. 

“It’s important to have programs like this so children are learning from a young age how to share, how to be good neighbors and friends, these are critically important skills,” Hogan said.

The township’s police chief said the expanded access to pre-k won’t just offer academic benefits.

“High-quality pre-k programs have also been shown to reduce problematic social and self-control behaviors that hinder student learning and can lead to future delinquency and crime,” Bartorilla said.

Children First noted in a statement that there are not enough high-quality, affordable pre-k openings in Bucks County. The group believes more than 3,000 Bucks County kids are missing out.

“Ages zero to five are the most important years for brain development, which is why high-quality centers like Baby Genius are so important. Every child has one shot at an early education and every child should be able to go to great programs like this,” said Cooper, the group’s executive director.

Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies

---

---