LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) unveiled two new buses on Monday that serve a deeper purpose than to and from school transportation.
While they look, drive and sound like a traditional school bus; inside is a classroom full of toys, books and games aimed at reaching more preschool-aged children in the county.
Teacher Kendall McCray is one of two full time FCPS preschool teachers that is dedicated to teaching full time in one of the district’s new mobile classrooms.
“It’s really exciting to see it come to fruition today. We’ve been kind of anxiously awaiting this,” McCray said.
The veteran teacher has been in the education field for 16 years and has spent the last decade at Fayette County Public Schools. In almost 20 years of teaching, McCray said there’s a first time for everything.
“This is definitely a first for me. I’m excited to kind of go out in the community and reach people that way because they’ve always had to come to us, so it’s needed to meet members of the community,” McCray said.
The goal of these buses is to reach more newborn to five-year-old children in Lexington and Fayette County. Assistant Superintendent at FCPS, Meocha Williams said the mobile classrooms present more opportunities for kids to realize that learning can happen anywhere in their world and not just in a school building.
“We want to be sure that we’re being innovative and meeting families where they are. There may be families who may not be able to get to a brick-and-mortar preschool classroom and so we can bring the preschool classroom to them,” Williams said.
Williams said this move comes after kindergarten readiness scores were just at 42% in the 2021-2022 school year.
“Our goal is that we are going to have 100% kindergarten readiness by the 2027 school year,” Williams said.
Monday morning, the first of two mobile classrooms departed FCPS offices for its maiden voyage to the Northside Library. The first group of students got to step inside and play with the toys.
For McCray, it’s a new adventure fueled by her same passion; helping kids grow into their best young self.
“The first five years are so important for their growth and development. Also, as a preschool teacher you get to play with fun toys, sing songs and just be goofy a lot. Something different every day,” McCray said.
The buses were made in partnership with First 5 Lex, the Lexington Education Foundation and the Lexington Public Library.
Two buses rolled out in a soft launch this spring and will target reaching families in downtown and the Cardinal Valley neighborhood.