In other education news.

Jefferson County Public Schools broke ground on a new preschool today.

The site will be just one of six public schools dedicated to Louisville's littlest learners.

Our June Lefler has more in tonight's Education Matters report.

An open field on the back side of Watterson Elementary will be the foundation of a new JCPenney preschool for three and four year olds.

JCPenney officials say early childhood education lays the groundwork for a successful student and adult.

If you really want to change the future, if you really want to change the world, you should invest in children and send a child to do it.

I'm a proud parent of JCPenney.

Students in my JCPenney students began in JCPenney in early child care right up the street.

And would you know that I still keep in contact with their early childcare teachers because they're such dedicated professionals that they keep calling and checking in, seeing how my children are growing and developing.

Research consistently shows that high quality pre-K education has a significant positive impact on children's development and long term success.

These are critical years where foundational skills are built, where children learn to socialize, develop language and motor skills, and begin to understand the world around them.

About 400 students will be able to attend the school once it opens in August of 2026.

And so currently we have closed a little bit over then 2600 students, and we usually maintain that close to sometimes even 30,000 students.

A lot of those students, some of those that are normally housed in an elementary location, will come to a center location.

Nearby elementary schools will likely have a bit more space than they did before, and educators can give their full attention to just the earliest learners.

Of course, our goal is to have our students in these centers just for various reasons.

We have administrators that are completely focused on early childhood rather than having an elementary location where that principal, of course, is focused on preschool to fifth grade.

There is no universal pre-K in Kentucky, but CPS and all Kentucky public schools must offer instruction to low income four year olds in their districts.

Same goes for three and four year olds with a disability.

These students come from our neediest families.

Really need the early childhood learning offered to them to be ready for kindergarten because we know every child, every single child deserves quality.

Early learning opportunities, and we want to make sure to provide them in Jeeps so that they become kindergarten.

Ready for Kentucky Edition.

June Leffler.

Thank you, June.

Superintendent Marty Polio says this school is just one of seven brand new JCP buildings on the way in the coming years.