When asking Future of the American Child journalists to explore covering quality early education, Jamie Miles posed this scenario.

“Imagine there was a place where every three and four-year-old and their family was provided with the wraparound supports…. That way when they left the program at the three and four-year-old stage, they can go into kindergarten well-equipped,” said Miles.

That’s more than just a concept at Washington, DC’s AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School, where Miles is the Chief of Schools. AppleTree offers free education to three- and four-year-olds, regardless of their zip code, economic status, race or creed.  Miles teamed up with Anne Malone, Chief of Growth and Impact at the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, to outline their strategy for eliminating the barriers to pre-kindergarten education.

A Comprehensive Approach

“Daycares are expensive. And if a child is not in daycare, they’re likely home. And the students who need it most are sitting at home,” Miles said.

While AppleTree schools exist in cities like New York and St. Louis, Washington D.C. is the largest cohort. AppleTree Early Learning educates 630 kids across 12 campuses in D.C. In each classroom, there are 15 to 20 students. In addition to teachers, AppleTree has social workers and counselors, as well as special education teachers, occupation therapists and physical therapists.

“Whatever the service is that we need to provide for the students, we’re able to provide that for our students in our program.”

Some barriers are out of Appletree’s control, but they still try to help, Miles said. This can include helping with transportation costs, providing shoes, coats or even access to laundry, she said.

But not everyone is taking advantage of the opportunity that AppleTree provides, Miles said.

There’s been a drop in enrollment since COVID, and while AppleTree is seeing an increase in numbers, they’re not back to pre-COVID numbers.

“We have to continue to increase brand awareness, have to continue to educate, have to continue to share with individuals the importance of early childhood education and get them exposed to the opportunity.”

How AppleTree Institute created the Every Child Ready instructional model.

In 2010, AppleTree schools were using five different curricula to try to meet all the early learning standards in D.C., Malone said.

“And as a principal at the time, it was really hard because it’s like five different pacings… And we had to renew this curriculum that nobody really loved and it wasn’t hitting all the marks. At the same time, the Department of Education released the investing innovation grants. We decided what if we applied, what if we made our own curriculum?”

The Every Child Ready curriculum came from a $5 million grant from the Department of Education.

 AppleTree went to teachers for guidance on building a curriculum, Malone said. She said they wanted a “one-stop shop” where they can put everything together and make it fun and engaging – from math to social-emotional learning to literacy.

The Every Child Ready full-day model goes from 8:45 to 3:30, she said. The majority of the day, children choose how they want to engage in learning in the classroom through thematic centers. The other breakdown is some direct instruction, she said – such as two read-a-louds each day.

“We also do quite a bit of professional learning. This is the ‘how to teach phase,’ “ Malone said. “Every school that uses Every Child Ready has the option to contract for coaching also with a specialist.”

AppleTree is looking at the baseline outcome to make sure its curriculum is working – comparing where the children come in and where they leave. 

Charter schools give families autonomy, Miles said.

The first charter school was authorized in 1996 following the passing of the D.C. Reform Act in 1995.

“What’s very unique about DC is that they pay per pupil funding. We get good money compared to most states who give no money to early childhood who give a lot less dollars to early childhood,” Miles said.

With that, AppleTree must serve every student that comes to their door, she said.  Families participate in the lottery system, being able to choose a preference, but ultimately get matched with a school to enroll in. Miles wants more parents to know AppleTree is an option.

“Families are sending their students to daycare. Nothing wrong with daycare, it’s a beautiful thing. But why when you can get a high-quality tuition-free education?”

Access the full transcript here.

This fellowship is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Heising-Simons Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for programming and content.