A new full-day preschool program has opened in Grand Junction incorporating into its curriculum science, technology, engineering, arts and math content from the Eureka McConnell Science Museum.

The Nest Preschool operates at the New Emerson Elementary School at Columbus. Joy Davis, director of the Nest Preschool, will work with teachers Ashley and Vonnie Davis to instruct an initial class of 15 students.

The Nest Preschool offers a nurturing environment for children the year before kindergarten. Powered by Eureka, the program incorporates content from the Grand Junction science museum. Students also will receive free family memberships to the museum.

The program will use the outdoors as a classroom. The New Emerson playground will offer students a place to not only stay active, but also observe natural phenomena. Off-site field trips will offer other learning experiences.

Nest Preschool offers tuition scholarships to low-income, underserved and underrepresented families, with 30 percent of spots reserved for qualifying families.

Nest Preschool also will accept students on the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program and provide meals through the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Mesa County School District 51 Lunch Lizard program. Bus service is available to scholarship students if access to transportation is a barrier.