Providing instruction at the two schools will cost about $3 million a year, district Superintendent Dennis Carpenter said. The district had to cut back on some instruction services, including tutoring, in order to channel funds to its early childhood programs.
Money spent for schools like Ervin also eventually helps decrease crime, incarcerations and students' mental health problems, he said.
LaRaya Griffith, a 5-year-old kindergartner at the Ervin Center, stopped reading aloud a book called "A Fly Went By" just long enough to critique her school.
"I like learning and I like reading," she said.
Brittany Murphy's 6-year-old son, Jason, also attends kindergarten at the Ervin Center.
Jumpstart trains community volunteers and college students to help preschool-age children in low-income neighborhoods.
Councilman Sharp said he loved the building, too.
Kansas City Mayor Pro-Tem Cindy Circo also attended Friday's event.