Groundbreaking set for Early Learning Center

By Lauren Pritchett
For The Catholic Week
MOBILE — St. Ignatius Parish will break ground on a state of the art Early Learning Center Preschool facility on May 23. St. Ignatius anticipates a 12-month build and plans to move into the building for the start of school, August 2025. 
The new Early Learning Center is the result of a five-year campaign called “Building Something Beautiful for God.”  The new church building at St. Ignatius is one example of the campaign. The $16.5 million church is fully paid off and stage two of this campaign is now focused on the new Early Learning Center Preschool building and the renovation of the existing Early Learning Center Nursery building. The entire project is expected to cost about $4.5 million and will have the capacity to serve 250 children.
 “The St. Ignatius Early Learning Center hosts many exciting events each year, but I don’t think anything can compare to the excitement we all feel about breaking ground for the new Early Learning Center Preschool building,” said Dr. Kathy Wilkins-Jones, Early Learning Center Director. “Currently, 1K, 2K, 3K, and 4K classrooms are not located in a central place on campus. Under the new building, we will all be one cohesive unit. The ability to collaborate within each grade level and to make sure we have continuity from one grade to the next will be made easier by being under one roof.  Each classroom will educate fifteen students with two teachers solidifying a 1:7 teacher-student ratio. The ELC Preschool will contain two sections of 1K and four sections each of 2K, 3K, and 4K classrooms.”
Each room will have a state of the art View Sonic interactive board, a sound field system to ensure optimal auditory signals, a document camera, classroom cameras, advanced safety locks and features, custom lockers and other aesthetic touches.  There will be two new dedicated outdoor play spaces and an indoor activity center to be used on rainy days.
In addition to 14 classrooms, the Early Learning Center Preschool facility will include a covered outdoor seating area with accessible bathrooms that overlook Loyola Lawn. This addition will be beneficial to families utilizing Loyola Lawn for practices, games and social events.