Festus Elementary School third-grade teacher Samantha Mouser will leave the classroom next school year to head up the Festus R-6 School District’s Early Childhood Education program, which is targeted to open in the 2023-2024 school year.
It will be the first time the district has its own Early Childhood Education program.
The district recently bought the former Wee Care Learning Center property at 821 American Legion Drive in Festus, which will house the program when it opens.
The deal was closed Dec. 20, and the district paid $3.4 million for the 5-acre property, which includes a 20,460-square-foot building. The purchase also included all the furnishings, including tables, desks and playground equipment, Festus R-6 Superintendent Link Luttrell said.
“That $3.4 million equates to approximately $170 per square foot,” he said. “Current construction costs would be at least $200-$250 per square foot and that is not counting the cost of land that would be needed.”
The school district bought the property from Wee 5, LLC, and according to the Missouri Secretary of State’s website, David P. Senkel, an attorney with the Thurman Law Firm in Hillsboro, is the registered agent for that limited liability corporation.
Senkel said he and Dr. Will Snidle and his wife, Julie Snidle, were the owners of Wee Care, which closed Dec. 17.
He described the decision to close the business as “bittersweet,” and he praised the Wee Care staff. He said Wee Care had 25 to 30 employees when the business closed.
“Any employee who asked for a letter of reference, we gave it to them,” Senkel said.
Luttrell said he did not know how much it will cost the district to operate the Early Childhood Education program.
“Cost for the program upon start of operations is a bit difficult to estimate at this time,” Luttrell said. “However, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reimburses at 100 percent for all costs associated with those students who are age 3 to 4 and determined to be in need of special education services. The state also provides state funding for up to 4 percent of the 3- to 4-year-old population, generally on a ‘high-needs’ basis. Hopefully, DESE will expand that percentage of funding to a higher level in coming years.”
Mouser
The Festus Board of Education voted 5-0 during a Feb. 16 closed meeting to name Mouser coordinator of the Early Childhood Education program for the 2022-2023 school year.
Board member Todd Oetting did not attend the meeting.
Nicki Ruess, the district’s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said Mouser stood out from the other eight applicants for the job.
“She’s currently a third-grade teacher and she also has been our summer school principal for the last few years, so she’s got administrative experience from summer school,” Ruess said.
Mouser will officially take over her new duties in August, when she will begin setting up the Early Childhood Education program.
Plans call for Mouser to be named the Early Childhood Education director for the 2023-2024 school year, when the program is expected to be up and running.
Mouser currently is paid a $63,300 annual salary as a teacher and will remain on that same salary schedule next school year while she’s working as the Early Childhood Education coordinator. Her salary as director for the following school year has not been determined, Ruess said.
“As the coordinator, she won’t have staff or students,” Ruess said. “She will be planning the program, which will include curriculum, hiring staff and enrolling students. In the 2023-2024 school year, we’ll open with students and she will become director.”
Ruess said that during the 2022-2023 school year, the Festus district will continue participation in the Dunklin R-5 School District Early Childhood Education program.
Mouser, 33, said she is excited about heading up the Festus district’s first Early Childhood Education program.
“Early Childhood Education has always been my passion,” she said. “That’s why I went into education. I’ve always known I want to have an administrative position. When this came up, it was perfect.”
Mouser said she is a major proponent of teaching youngsters through play.
“Definitely, hands-on learning,” she said. “We want kids to learn through play and have a safe environment.”
Mouser has taught in the district for the last nine years after spending two years as a teacher in the St. Louis Public School District.
“I’ve always taught in the first and third grades,” Mouser said.
She and her husband, Joe Mouser, live in Festus with their two sons, Eli, 4, and Henry, 2.
During the Festus School District’s campaign for a 59-cent tax increase that voters approved in April 2019, it promised to open its own early childhood education program.