Pre-K and kindergarten teachers unite
Arlington ISD’s pre-K and kindergarten teachers are ready to rock and roll.
With the start of the new school year just days away, they gathered together this week for a conference full of professional learning and motivation to ensure a great beginning to the new school year.
But this conference looked more like a sock hop than a typical meeting. Leave it to the early childhood learning team to show up in poodle skirts and leather jackets and give out prizes to the teachers with the best 50s outfits.
Despite the fun rock ‘n’ roll theme and excitement for the new school year, everyone there was very serious about their mission.
“Every student should have a high-quality education,” said early childhood learning director Dr. Jackeline Orsini, preaching to the choir. “Every child comes with talents and skills. It is our job to give every child the best possible foundation.”
That mission is why this conference included both pre-K and kindergarten teachers together for the first time.
“This is very significant because this represents the start of a transformational process that we have planned for kindergarten,” Orsini said.
Kindergarten has been added to the early childhood learning department to develop greater cohesion between pre-K and kindergarten.
“We have intentionally connected pre-K and kindergarten together as an early childhood learning block because there’s an opportunity to ensure that when kids come to pre-K and move into kindergarten, there’s an intentional bridge between the two,” said Arlington ISD interim superintendent Dr. Steven Wurtz to the teachers at the conference.
Working together and building this bridge will maximize the educational opportunities the two grade levels will be able to offer 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds.
Part of maximizing those opportunities is getting as many little learners enrolled in pre-K as possible. Students who start school in pre-K start kindergarten much more prepared and ready to learn than kids who do not.
That’s why Arlington ISD has made pre-K such a huge priority, from developing its own, best-in-class curriculum to offering pre-K 4 for free to every child. The goal is to get every child enrolled and then give them the best possible pre-K experience with the most loving teachers out there.
Those efforts are paying off.
“This is the first year that 99% of new kindergarteners have all been to pre-K,” Wurtz said to the teachers at the conference. “That is something to celebrate … It accelerates your opportunity as kindergarten teachers to move into the things the students need to learn in kindergarten.”
Whether your child is going into pre-K or kindergarten, in Arlington ID they’re going to get a fun, purposeful learning experience with outstanding teachers.
If you haven’t registered your child yet, it’s not too late. But don’t wait because school starts Wednesday, Aug. 16. Start the registration process online here, and watch what a typical day in pre-K is like here.
It’s time to rock and roll.