hen it launched in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the STL Pre-K Cooperative had a goal of expanding access to high-quality pre-K in some of the city’s most under-resourced areas. It started with seven early childhood education providers and 120 students. Now, four years later, the cooperative has 1,000 students—and no plans of slowing down. This year, it wants 85 percent of those kids to leave the program kindergarten-ready, and though it operates only in the city right
