In 1992, Governor Zell Miller launched the first Georgia Pre-K program, starting out with only 750 students statewide. Thirty-one years later, the program includes more than two million kids in state-funded, voluntary, no-cost preschool programs. Every four-year-old in Georgia is eligible to participate, regardless of parental income.
Georgia Pre-K has become a nationally recognized success.
The state’s Pre-K Week, however, came as a result of the preschool program nearly being abolished due to lack of funding.
The week has become a celebration of PreK’s success and encourages community leaders to experience the early education classroom and how it influences the futures of participating children.
Locally, The Peoples Bank, Farmers and Merchant Bank, Pizza Hut of Eatonton, Zaxby’s of Eatonton, the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce, Putnam County’s Board of Commissioners, the Board of Education and Eatonton Mayor John Reid were each visited by local Pre-K students and their teachers.
The managers and employees of Putnam County clearly enjoyed hosting the Pre-K classes and teachers, celebrating the success and future of each and every student during their visits.