Neighborhood House Expands

A venerable community institution is marking a new chapter with the addition of six Abbott pre-school classrooms in the refurbished East Front Street building that spans the block from Roosevelt to Westervelt avenues.

Neighborhood House Association Director Carol Presley said Thursday the classrooms will be open in September with a capacity for 90 pre-schoolers.

"It speaks to the need of the community," Presley said, citing a waiting list "that we can never satisfy."

For more information on the Abbott district pre-school program, click here.

Presley said the new program is part of an expansion that includes the addition of 14 classrooms at the original site on Fourth Street.

Neighborhood House began seven decades ago as an outreach of the Moorland YMCA to meet the needs of the community. Presley said in the late 1970s, the mission changed to early childhood education, "because of the need in the community." It currently serves infants, toddlers, afer-school and pre-school groups, she said.

The organization plans a reception Aug. 27 to introduce the new facility, Presley said.

--Bernice Paglia