As a new group of pre-K students started classes Thursday throughout Fort Wayne Community Schools, kindergarten teachers at one building approached the districtapps manager of early learning and gushed about the preparation their little learners received the previous year.
Katie Ziegler said educators at Arlington Elementary, which is in its second year of offering pre-K, thanked her for expanding the early childhood program that now serves about 1,000 children districtwide app a record high.
appThe children that were in pre-K are rock stars,app Ziegler said, describing the Arlington teachersapp feedback while visiting 4-year-olds at Franke Park Elementary School. appThey know how to open their lunch. They know how to sit and listen. They know how to put their supplies away on their own.app
Students living within the attendance boundaries of each of FWCS elementary school qualify for pre-K classes app an accomplishment the district achieved last fall after launching such programs more than 25 years ago.
Indiana doesnappt fund pre-K students through the school funding formula, so FWCS largely depends on federal Title I dollars to support the classes, which build youngstersapp skills through hands-on, play-based learning.
Enrollment includes participants in special education, magnet and Title I programs, Ziegler said. Half- and full-day classes are offered.
appWe added two more classrooms this year,app she said, adding the district has wait lists at several schools. appWe just keep growing and growing.app
Ziegler couldnappt pinpoint the reason for the increased participation. FWCS spokesman Scott Murray shared his observations, including how the districtapps expansion of pre-K likely underscores the programapps value to families.
appPeople are learning about the program, and theyappre seeing the benefits of having their students in pre-K as opposed to just going to a child care (facility) for the day, where they donappt get the instruction,app Murray said.
Through pre-K, children learn various social skills, including sharing, cooperation and negotiation, Ziegler said. She added they also learn how to behave in school, such as how to stand in a line, how to raise their hands andhow to sit and listen to a teacher.
appThe academics are almost the cherry on top,app Ziegler said.
Other public preschool programs in Allen County include Northwest Allen County Schoolsapp early childhood special education services for 3- to 5-year-olds with disabilities and a new pre-K program at Covington Elementary School, a Southwest Allen County school.
East Allen County Schools welcomed its preschoolers Aug. 14.
appWe are excited to see them beginning their school journey and transitioning well to their teachers and new friends,app district spokeswoman Tamyra Kelly said by email.
FWCSapp pre-K classes started two weeks after the older students returned to school. The delay allowed the other elementary students to get acclimated before the youngsters arrived, Ziegler said, and it gave pre-K teachers time to meet with students and their families in their homes.
Franke Park pre-K teacher Lacey Metzger said meeting the children before classes begin makes the transition to school smoother.
She met most of her students three times before Thursday.
appThe majority when we came in app no tears,app Metzger said. appWe only had a few, so I call that a win.app
