Fundraiser Benefits New Preschool at St. Patrick's

is expanding with plans for a new preschool, and Saturday members of the Kent community will get a sneak peek at the proposed 7,000 square foot facility.

The school is sponsoring a "Vegas Night" to kick off the fundraising campaign for the new preschool, which will serve children ages 3 through 5.

Angela Davis, the preschool project coordinator at St. Patrick's, said Saturday's fundraiser is important if the school wants to meet its goal of breaking ground in September.

"What has to happen on our end, being a private school, we need to have half of our funds in the bank before we’re allowed to break ground," Davis said. "That's our goal."

She declined to say how much the school needs to raise for the entire project.

The preschool's request for by the Kent Board of Zoning Appeals in September 2011. The zoning certificate expires after one year. The new preschool's overall site plan goes before the Kent Planning Commission on March 20.

The variance allows construction of a new, two-story building for the preschool program at the southwest corner of the school's property where North Depeyster Street intersects with an alley.

The Saturday fundraiser, which starts at 6:30 p.m. in the school's gymnasium, is open to the public and will feature multiple displays of the proposed preschool and its floor plan. Tickets are $25 per person presale and $30 at the door. The event will include craps, roulette, black jack and poker tables with a cash bar and DJ.

No cash will be exchanged at the tables, and instead winners can exchange poker chips and "funny money" for raffle tickets. Raffle prizes include a 60-inch plasma TV donated by , gift cards to and a Sony camera, case and image card from .

Davis said plans for the school include three classrooms for children ages 3, 4 and 5. The 5-year-old classroom is for those children who "might not be ready for kindergarten or are right there at the cut-off date and cannot get into kindergarten."

The catholic school, which already serves children in kindergarten through eighth grade, started planning for the new preschool after a survey of parents showed many wanted a chance for their younger students to attend.

"A lot of our families, they want a preschool for their children to go into," Davis said. "And we want just to grow in the community."