November 2025 article
Building Bright Futures: Owatonna Early Childhood Programs Support Every Child
From preschool classrooms to home-based early intervention, Owatonna Early Childhood is helping children grow, learn, and thrive.
By Kaci Rendahl, Director of Early Learning
Owatonna Early Childhood is dedicated to supporting the growth, development, and learning of young children throughout our community. With programs located at Roosevelt, the Owatonna Education Center, and within students’ homes, our team works closely with families to ensure every child has the tools and support they need to reach their potential. Our Early Intervention team partners with families of our youngest learners. These families have children who demonstrate a developmental delay in one or more areas or are born with a condition known to hinder development. Our teachers and service providers work with families to achieve outcomes outlined in each child’s Individualized Family Service Plan. Families who have concerns about a child’s development can submit a Help Me Grow referral, which is reviewed by our team to ensure timely and personalized support.
For children who turn three before September 1st, Owatonna Early Childhood offers preschool opportunities, welcoming all students regardless of whether they have an Individualized Education Plan. Programming is available for children ages 3, 4, and 5, with classrooms designed to provide individualized attention and collaborative learning. Co-taught classrooms feature two licensed teachers and one support staff member, while other classrooms have one teacher and one support staff member. Our classroom ratios are never higher than 1 staff member to 10 students, with classrooms having no more than 16 students. Our preschool has a four-star Parent Aware rating. To help make preschool accessible to all families in our community, our team works with families to minimize tuition burdens and coordinate transportation through the Owatonna Bus Company and SMART Transit.
Our programs are always striving to provide the best educational foundation for our students. This year, our preschool classrooms have introduced the Heggerty curriculum, a developmentally appropriate approach to literacy that helps children build strong early reading and language skills. We have heard so many positive stories about this curriculum from parents of our students. We are excited to hear how this curriculum continues to positively impact our students and families! The Early Childhood Family Education portion of our programming is housed at Roosevelt. There, we provide a variety of early learning experiences for children, both with and without parent education components. Early childhood screening is an important early detection tool recommended at 3 years of age. This is conducted at Roosevelt to identify developmental needs early, allowing families and educators to take proactive steps in supporting each child. Early childhood screening occurs every Thursday; call 507-444-7900 to schedule.
Community collaboration is an integral part of Owatonna Early Childhood programming. Family connect opportunities throughout the year give parents and caregivers a chance to come together, share experiences, and learn from one another. Our team welcomes input from families and community members as we explore programming options for the coming school year. The Early Childhood Advisory Council meets monthly, where we discuss and explore our programming. By working together, we ensure every child in our community has access to quality early learning experiences that prepare them for success in school and beyond.
Families interested in learning more or enrolling a child may contact the Owatonna Early Childhood office at 507-444-8050 or go to our website: isd761.org/preschool. Together, we are building bright futures, one child at a time.