Columbia Independent School, a private school on the city’s northwest side, recently showed off a $17.5 million expansion including an addition of a 27,000-square-foot building, nine acres and a new program for 3-year-olds.
To commemorate the new additions, CIS held a ribbon-cutting ceremony where students, parents, board members and faculty attended.
“This school will be a place where young minds are not only educated but they are inspired to think critically, to innovate and to lead with compassion and purpose,” said CIS Board of Trustees Chair Jack Miller.
Angela Claybrook, who teaches string orchestra at CIS and has been teaching there for nearly 8 years, says the expansion was needed.
“We were just kind of busting at the seams having all the grades in that one building.”
With enrollment steadily growing over the past decade and difficulty for families looking to enroll their children, CIS Head of School Bridgid Kinney said by expanding CIS’s upper school, for grades nine through 12, space in existing classrooms opened up.
This allowed for the addition of a junior kindergarten for 3-year-olds. The program was inspired by CIS families looking to enroll their children all in one place and families outside of CIS seeking a day experience for their 3-year-olds.
The program runs during the school year, not in summer. Students are taught literacy, social studies, mathematics, world language, music and art in their all-day schedules. They also go to physical education, recess and yoga.
Director of Admissions Kari Stockwell says the need for more early child care was another factor in creating the program.
“In lots of places around the country, there's just not enough child care available to families. And in particular, we wanted to serve students who, you know, really wanted an exposure to an academic program," Stockwell said.
However, school for 3-year-olds at CIS comes at a cost. Full tuition for the 2024-2025 school year is $12,750 – and available scholarships and tuition breaks do not apply to the new program. If parents choose the longest payment plan – making a payment each of the ten months of the school year – that’s $1,275 per month.
Kinney says CIS based its charges on researching tuition rates locally as well as those of other independent schools.
“There's a process that they look at in comparables and what's included, whether you also have lunch, whether it's a full-day program. So, we compare to other schools in the area and other schools in the region," Kinney said.
Choices for parents trying to place their 3-year-olds in academic programs can be complicated because there are a limited number of early education facilities — public or private. Families ineligible for public programs likely have to turn to private care, family centers or other support systems. Parents having to choose between affordability and quality early learning services may opt for private means. And private care is both expensive and somewhat rare. The city of Columbia has only three state-licensed childcare facilities.
The Children’s School at Stephens College and Nanny’s Early Learning Center currently have no waitlists. The MU Child Development Laboratory also offers academics, but the next round of openings isn’t until September of 2025. Monthly costs for these facilities range from $860 to $1,283. The state also offers a subsidy for low-income families, which can reduce childcare costs by several hundred dollars per month.
Across Missouri, there's a lack of quality child care. More than half of all Missourians live in a "child care desert." In addition, the 2023 Untapped Potential Report from the U.S. Chamber Foundation and Missouri Chamber of Commerce states that Missouri loses an estimated $1.35 billion each year due to issues with childcare availability. This is due to parents having to miss work or skip educational opportunities.
Tracy Huang, professor and director of Early Childhood Education programs at Moberly Area Community College, says parents much must weigh cost against where their child would receive the most care and where admission waitlists are shortest.
“And I think many of our parents are currently facing that. I always get calls from co-workers who say, ‘Do you know of any places where I can put my child?’”
Meanwhile, at CIS the inaugural junior kindergarten classes of 3-year-olds have begun. CIS plans to add a third section to the program next year.