Opening in 2002, Porter-Leath Early Childhood Center - American Way serves 200 Preschool and 32 Early Head Start children each school year. The center is NAEYC accredited and maintains a 3-star quality rating from the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
All children can enjoy a USDA-approved breakfast, lunch and snack each day at American Way that is prepared on site. Within the first 45 school days, all children enrolled receive a health, vision, dental and developmental screening at the center. Porter-Leath Preschool uses evidence-based curricula to ensure children enter kindergarten ready to learn. All classrooms at American Way are led by two teachers and children also greatly benefit from interactions with Foster Grandparent and AmeriCorps members at the site. Volunteers are welcome in our classrooms, as they help our students build upon their socialization skills. To sign up, complete our volunteer application, or contact us.
As shown below, over 62% of students at American Way live in the ZIP codes surrounding the center: 38118, 38116, and 38115.
Outcomes are measured using the Brigance assessment. Porter-Leath measures child-level progress, based upon age, across seven domains: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Language Development, Literacy, Math, Self-Help, and Social-Emotional. For the 2017-2018 school year, children at American Way achieved increases in all domains.
Scores for four year old children at this site showed increases of 51% in Gross Motor, 62% in Fine Motor, 51% in Language Development, 90% in Literacy, 95% in Math, 50% in Self-Help, and 23% in Social-Emotional between beginning and year-end assessments. Three year old children achieved increases of 49% in Gross Motor, 77% in Fine Motor, 64% in Language Development, 181% in Literacy, 108% in Math, 60% in Self-Help, and 28% in Social-Emotional.
For children ages birth to three years old, the E-LAP assessment is used and measures the following domains: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognition, Language, Self-Help, and Social-Emotional. During the 2017-2018 school year, children ages birth to three years old at American Way showed increases in all domains: 14% in Gross Motor, 26% in Fine Motor, 29% in Cognition, 35% in Language, 44% in Self-Help, and 24% in Social-Emotional.
