St. Petersburg VPK Facility tells Re-Opening Story, Joins Thousands of Florida Early Childhood Providers Now Serving Working Families

Published on: Aug 14, 2020

The following synopsis was taken from an article published August 11, 2020, by 83 Degrees Media. Read entire article

Jackie Lang is the owner of Imagination Station in St. Petersburg, a preschool that provides early learning care for up to 44 children, ages 2 to 5. 

Initially, when COVID first hit, Imagination Station stayed open. That is until everyone realized the significance of what was happening, says Lang.  

As enrollment started to drop, she made the decision to close the center to give teachers and families the opportunity to shelter in place at home. “I anticipated that I would be closed about a week, but it turned out that we were closed for three weeks,” says Lang.

Imagination Station reopened in April and has stayed open every day since then.

“Many of our parents work at essential businesses and they have no choice -- they have to go to work,” says Lang. “It’s our goal to keep the children happy and safe so the parents can bring their children here and not worry.” 

She is also proud of her staff and the safety precautions they are taking. “Inside our walls, you would never know there was a pandemic out there,” says Lang. “Our teachers have come to work every day with a positive attitude, even when they don’t know what they are going to be exposed to, or what they are going to bring home to their own families.” 

At the moment, the center is operating at 70 percent capacity. That might change as more parents go back to work, but no one knows exactly what will happen, says Lang.  

Fortunately, Lang is able to keep her center open regardless of enrollment and still not worry about funding. About 20 percent of her families are self-pay, says Lang, while 80 percent are part of either Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten or the Florida school readiness program. 

VPK is a free program for all 4-year-olds in the state, while the school readiness program gives younger economically disadvantaged children access to early education. Lang receives funding for those programs through the Early Learning Coalition of Pinellas County.

“If not for the support we have received from the city and from the Early Learning Coalition, I don’t know where we would be,” she says.