AUSTIN, Texas — A preschool in Central Austin is closing the gap in education by providing reduced tuition for foster and low-income families.
Petra Preschool welcomes any child to their institution on E. St. John's Avenue, but it caters to a large percentage of children who receive government subsidies.
In 2013, Christal and Phillip Murray struggled to enroll their foster child in a preschool program that their biological children attended. After looking into options throughout Austin, they found that the tuition rates at other schools were more expensive than the government subsidies they received for their foster child.
"There were typically very few slots for those kiddos. There may have been one per class or five for the entire school," said Christal Murray, who is also the co-founder of Petra Preschool.
Additionally, she said many schools struggled to address the issues these kids have due to the trauma they have faced in their young lives.
Instead of giving up, the Murrays decided to tackle the problem head-on and went to the drawing board.
In four years, they planned and opened Petra Preschool. The nonprofit Christian school operates on a financial model that accepts approximately 50% of families paying via government subsidies and 50% of families paying the full tuition.
"The reason why schools don't attempt this more often is they are a for-profit school and are set up to generate some residual income," said Phil Murray, who is the other co-founder.
Parker Brody started bringing his foster children to Petra Preschool this school year. In addition to the cost benefits, he said the faculty is trained in trust-based relational intervention (TBRI), an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention for vulnerable children.
"Because of some of the things he had experienced, just being removed from his family, he needed specific help to move him along," Brody said. "They [Petra Preschool] were able to help guide him in that direction."
This type of intervention involves multiple forms of sensory integration for children, such as sand tables, water tables, trampolines and calm-down areas, according to Mindy Lee, the director of Petra Preschool.
Christal Murray, who is also a hematologic oncologist at Baylor Scott and White Health, said she and her husband just wanted to provide the same opportunities to their foster children as they did their biological children.
"This is the missing gap we saw and why we started Petra Preschool," she explained.
Even after foster children reunify with their biological parents, many of them remain enrolled at Petra to create consistency in their lives.
As the nonprofit continues to grow, the Murrays hope they have set an example for other schools.
"We didn’t really set out or imagine we would create a preschool. We did it really because we experienced a need the community had," said Phil Murray.
For inquiries about enrolling your child, please contact Petra Preschool.
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