Developers tout early childhood center being built in Gentilly's ...

Developers marked another milestone in rehabilitating one of the city's "big four" public housing projects on Thursday, holding a belated ceremony to tout construction of a new early childhood center among the mixed-income housing already going up along St. Bernard Avenue in Gentilly.

The $9 million building, under construction since August and slated to open some time next spring, will serve about 150 students and will be run by the national group? Educare Schools.

It's part of an overarching development, called Columbia Parc at the Bayou District, aimed at alleviating poverty by building not only housing but also retail, healthcare and school facilities.

More than 500 families already live in Columbia Parc, built on the site of the former St. Bernard Housing complex.

Developers are aiming to assemble more or less "cradle-to-college" educational opportunities in one neighborhood, which would begin with the Educare program, slated to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. year-round. That facility will eventually stand within walking distance of a new building for Akili Academy, a nearby public charter school, and the new McDonogh 35 High School, slated to go up across St. Bernard Avenue in the next few years.

Educare's executive director, Portia Kennel, thanked the group's local partners -- Kingsley House will help support the program -- and promised a concerted effort to close the widespread achievement gap between middle-class and low-income students.

"We're not only going to narrow that achievement gap," Kennel said. "If you put your?child in this center as an infant, we're going to make sure that achievement gap does not even appear."

One continuing challenge will be funding the program. Gerard Barousse, chairman of the Bayou District Foundation, said he is counting on, in part, revenue from a deal the group is putting together with City Park to redevelop the park's golf complex. The foundation has promised to raise about $9 million for the project in return for a portion of the income generated by the course.

Additional money will come from the federal government's Head Start and Early Head Start grant programs for low-income children. But Barousse acknowledged that more work will have to go into guaranteeing the $2.5 million annual budget that Educare will need to operate.

"We're working to try to bridge that gap," he said.

Source: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2012/10/developers_tout_pre-kindergart.html

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