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Mission

Charlotte Bilingual Preschool (CltBP) prepares Spanish-speaking children for success in school and life by providing superior dual language early childhood education

History

In 1999, Charlotte Bilingual Preschool was launched in response to the need for preschool options for Spanish-speaking children from economically marginalized families. We started as Central Avenue Bilingual Preschool with a $100,000 grant from Smart Start. In 2012, recognizing the school’s potential to address the needs of Latinx children throughout the city, our Board changed the school’s name to Charlotte Bilingual Preschool. We improved the quality of our facilities, staff, and curriculum, and in September 2014, we became the only NC 5-star licensed dual language preschool in the state.

In summer 2015, in response to increased demand in the rapidly growing Charlotte Latinx community, our school moved to our current location in the Hickory Grove Elementary School Annex. We enrolled 50% more preschool-aged students and piloted Creciendo Juntos for children 0-3. In 2017, our Board embarked on a strategic plan to become a pioneer in early childhood education. We increased alignment with citywide initiatives, began representing our community’s interests at both the local and state level, and redesigned our family programs to be asset-based and reflect best practices. In 2018, we expanded our Preschool Program capacity from 108 to 144 with the launch of our pilot Green Room integrated classroom model, enrolling English-speaking students alongside Spanish-speaking students for the first time to accelerate language acquisition and facilitate the flow of social capital.

In 2019, we began partnership with MECK Pre-K to provide extended day (6.5 hours) preschool programs for the first time, deepening impact and increasing accessibility for working families. We are also piloting the home visiting program ParentChild+ in partnership with GreenLight Fund Charlotte, impacting student success exponentially by reaching our current children, children on our waiting list, and their siblings.

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