Metea Valley High School opens its doors to preschoolers

A whole new size of freshman is about to enter the rodeo at Metea Valley High School this fall.

School officials are preparing to open the new, three-day-a-week Mini Mustang Preschool on Sept. 20. About 17 Mini-Mustangs already are enrolled.

For the preschoolers, the program includes participating in activities revolving around a weekly theme and dabbling in art, science, the alphabet, a sensory table and other activities and skills. Students must be toilet trained and the program is open to families throughout Indian Prairie Unit District 204.

For high schoolers, however, the new program is a lab-class offered to juniors and seniors. They'll be developing lesson plans to teach curricular subjects and age-appropriate techniques based on strategies learned in Child Development and Early Childhood Teaching lab classes.

"Not many students are aware this will be offered in the fall, but we're really hoping the word gets out to both the community and our students," said Jill Hlavacek, chairwoman of the Business/FACS and Applied Tech department. "This is an ideal course for students who want to be teachers, doctors, and just about any other field involving children."

The preschool, open to 3- and 4-year-olds will meet from 9:15 to 10 a.m. three days a week and classes will follow the high school schedule with a semester break. Hlavacek said she hopes to increase the time slot for the class next year when the high school has both a full junior and senior class.

Teaching Lab instructor Sally O'Rourke, who has worked in similar preschools at both Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools, said she is confident her students will make the 45 minutes both fun and educational for the Mini-Mustangs.

"We're going to run a program very similar to the other two programs by incorporating the best of each," O'Rourke said. "We're going to focus on positive enforcement and student growth from both an educational and social level."

Tours of the facility will be scheduled in August for parents and preschoolers.

If you go Metea Valley High School is abuzz this summer. Educators are preparing for the school's second year. The staff is growing to accommodate a student body that will now include three grades. Athletes and coaches are leading camps to help ready themselves for varsity competition while indoctrinating the next generation of athletes in the new Mustang tradition.For most high schools, this is business as usual in the summer. At Metea, it feels like a luxury. An honor, if you will.A year ago, the school site near Diehl and Eola roads in Aurora buzzed with crews continuing construction, workers installing lockers and furniture and staff hustling to be sure the 3,000-seat school would be ready for students just 15 months after breaking ground.With the $144 million capital project all but complete, Metea faculty and staff are relishing the chance to reflect on the first year and look ahead to building on their successes when the bell rings again in August.This week, we're exploring what's happening at the school, including today's look at Metea's new preschool program that will be led by juniors in child development classes.True20001749Staff are working to put together the Mini Mustangs Preschool facility set to open Sept. 20.Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald StaffTrue