MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, ALABAMA — Holding a green stenciled dinosaur, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin smiled widely as 4-year-old students “fed” letters to the flat critter, in an alphabet learning exercise.
Austin visited Maxwell Elementary Middle School last week along with first lady Jill Biden to highlight the launch of universal pre-kindergarten classes available to all 4-year-olds at 80 installations with elementary schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity.
“We heard loud and clear that families juggling work and raising kids need affordable child care and quality early childhood education,” Austin said, speaking to airmen, their families and school staff.
Austin highlighted the pre-kindergarten launch as one of the Defense Department’s efforts to make life easier for troops and their families.
DOD also announced seven new initiatives, including another effort to increase access to quality child care, with a $33.5 million budget request specifically for the child care workforce, to improve recruitment, retention and the work environments in DOD’s child development program. Like many civilian child care programs, the military has faced shortages of child care workers for years.
About 4,000 four-year-olds attend pre-K classes at the 80 schools where it’s being offered. Officials anticipate about 6,000 students will attend once the program is rolled out to all 90 elementary schools. Enrollment in the program is optional.
The remaining 10 elementary schools in the DODEA system will get pre-K over the next several years, pending construction and renovation.
The Department of Defense Education Activity, which manages schools on U.S. military bases around the world, launched its universal pre-K program in 2023 with a cohort of 65 4-year-olds at one school — M.C. Perry Primary School at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.
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It was a success, said Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, who became director of the defense school system June 1.
“The families there were so grateful and so excited, and just saw their children flourishing in the program,” Narvaez told Military Times in a recent interview. “That was a great indicator about how important this is. And for military commanders, they’ve asked us for nearly a decade, and told us how important this is for readiness. They’re so appreciative. "
Narvaez said universal pre-K is her top priority this school year.
The startup costs for universal pre-K this year are about $65 million, and total annual expenditures, including teachers’ salaries, are expected to be about $45 million, said DODEA spokesman Will Griffin.
Officials were able to accelerate the timeline for bringing pre-kindergarten to the schools this year because of the determination of local school officials. In 2023, defense school officials said they expected the program would be phased in gradually over a five year period. They were initially slated to start universal pre-kindergarten this year in 47 schools.
But school leaders wanted the programs to come to their schools sooner, and worked to make it happen.
“They did that on their own because they know how important this initiative is,” Narvaez said. “People were so excited and realized how important this was, that they walked their buildings, they looked to see if they had viable space, they worked with military commanders to find the space to do it… They looked in every nook and cranny to see if there’s appropriate space.”
The student/teacher ratio for pre-K is 18 to 1. Every pre-K classroom has a full-time, certified early childhood educator and a full-time educational aide.
Any child who will be age 4 on or before Sept. 1 of a coming school year may enroll.
Parents can register through the DODEA Student Information System, but there’s no registration deadline because military families move throughout the year. Parents can visit dodea.edu/upk for more information and to enroll their child.
The Defense Department operates about 160 schools around the world, with nearly 70,000 students. The vast majority of military children attend schools outside the gate.
Universal pre-kindergarten programs are a “defining issue” for the United States, first lady Biden told told an audience of service members at Maxwell AFB.
“What’s happening at Maxwell is part of the blueprint for making quality preschool available to every three- and four-year-old in America,” she said.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
