A new full-day classroom at Greenville's Meyer Center is putting typically developing 4-year-olds side by side with students who have disabilities, and one father has expressed confidence in the program. The 4K Inclusion Program began Aug. 10, 2026, and operates Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., blending shared learning, play, meals and daily exploration for both groups of children.
The tuition-based classroom enrolls typically developing 4-year-olds alongside Meyer Center students with disabilities, according to Greenville Journal. Meta Hendricks, the Meyer Center's executive director, said the program gives Greenville families “a unique kindergarten preparation experience grounded in decades of proven best practice.” Only three seats remain for the 2026-27 school year, per the same report.
For Justin Lambert, the decision to enroll his daughter Reese alongside kids like his 2-year-old son Theo, who has Down syndrome and is enrolled in the Meyer Center's preschool program, carries extra weight. Lambert said Reese comes home from the classroom more excited than she has from any other school she's attended, and he said he wants inclusive learning to be the norm for his son's future education, too.
How the Classroom Blends Two Groups of Students
Justin Lambert says the setup creates an environment where children with and without disabilities learn together and everyone belongs. Children with disabilities benefit from classmates modeling language, social interaction, play, problem-solving and independence, while their typically developing peers develop empathy, patience, flexibility and an early understanding of different learning and communication styles. Both groups gain chances to form friendships and learn from children with different experiences, and students with disabilities who leave the Meyer Center go on to transition into general education programs.
The arrangement reflects a broader tension in early childhood policy across the state. A South Carolina Preschool Council report, filed with the South Carolina State House, recommended continued support for inclusion and least restrictive environments while acknowledging that data shows many preschool children with disabilities, especially 3-year-olds, continue to be served in separate classrooms away from nondisabled peers.
A $200,000 Grant and Decades of Local Backing
Getting the classroom built took a $200,000 grant from Pacolet Milliken, LLC, which funded both the conversion of existing space for the new classroom and year-one staffing, curriculum and start-up materials. That startup support sits on top of a much longer relationship: the Community Foundation of Greenville has supported the Meyer Center since 1998 and has provided more than $335,000 in grants to the organization.
The Meyer Center itself has provided comprehensive special education and intensive therapy for children with disabilities for 72 years, and currently serves students from infancy through age 8. The organization is directing prospective families to meyercenter.org/admissions-2 for more information on enrollment.
Conflicting Details on Class Size and Eligibility
Not every account of the program lines up. The Meyer Center's own admissions page lists a 1:10 adult-to-student ratio for the classroom, which serves a minimum of 10 students and a maximum of 12, while greenvilleonline.com reported a one-to-six adult-to-student ratio for the same program. There's also a discrepancy over who exactly the classroom serves: the Meyer Center describes eligible students as 4-year-olds by Sept. 1, 2026, who are South Carolina residents and don't require special education services at enrollment, but Fox Carolina described the program as a kindergarten offering for children ages 3 and under focused on building school readiness skills.
Annual tuition runs $7,920, payable either as $220 a week for 36 weeks or $792 a month over 10 months, following the Meyer Center's calendar of 180 instructional days across 10 months. No financial assistance is available for the tuition-based program during its first year. The classroom uses an evidence-based curriculum aligned with South Carolina Early Learning Standards, and the Meyer Center says play provides the foundation for cognitive, language and social development while building independence, empathy, cooperation and school readiness in young children.
