Caldwell’s preschool aims to put kids on the right path

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO ENROLL

The new preschools at Caldwell’s Lincoln and Wilson elementaries have openings in both morning and afternoon sessions. The preschools have a total capacity of 80 children — 20 in each session — and as of last week 66 children were enrolled.

Children must be 3 to 5 years old and not enrolled in kindergarten. They should live in the Caldwell School District, but it is not necessary to live in the specific attendance zone for Wilson, 400 S. Linden St., or Lincoln, 1200 Grant St. Families must provide transportation to and from preschool.

Each school hosts two preschool sessions that run Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. The cost is $151 per month, but financial assistance is available. For more information call 921-6131.

ABOUT P16

The Caldwell School District community partnership, announced in June, aims to boost educational aspirations and achievement by tapping resources beyond perpetually scarce state school funds.

In addition to the district’s first-ever preschool classes, P16 provides after-school programs plus career aspiration teams in Caldwell’s secondary schools to focus on how best to motivate, empower and educate students so they can successfully pursue their post-high school dreams. Another part of P16 will be scholarships to help fund those dreams.

P16’s goals echo those of the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation’s Go On initiative, and the foundation donated $400,000 to cover the project’s first year. United Way of the Treasure Valley administers the funding for the program and has committed to raise $500,000 to be used in years two through four.

The Treasure Valley YMCA operates the preschools and afterschool programs in Caldwell classrooms. Other partners include the Lee Pesky Learning Center, Idaho Voices for Children, the Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence, the city of Caldwell and the College of Idaho.

Partners estimate the full four-year cost at $4.2 million as the programs expand to all Caldwell schools. P16 advocates said they are confident a successful first year will inspire enough donations to cover those costs.

When Wilson Elementary comes into view each school day, 4-year-old Brax starts to sing.

“He loves it,” said his mom, Liz Endicott. “He wants to come on weekends, too.”

Brax is one of 66 Caldwell preschoolers getting their first taste of classroom life through a new program, dubbed P16, that aims to give students a strong start that will help propel them through high school and college.

Wilson Principal Taylor Raney estimates at least half of the school’s kindergartners are poorly prepared for the classroom when they start school.

“If we can get that half some help before kindergarten, that’s great,” he said. “We see kids that wouldn’t recognize a letter if you put it in front of them.”

Reading readiness and math skills are key focuses for the preschools, but so are the non-academic behaviors that help children succeed in the classroom.

“A lot of our kids, when they go into kindergarten, are woefully behind socially,” said Caldwell School District spokeswoman Jennifer Swindell. “We have kids who have never used a public restroom. They don’t know how to share or raise their hands.

“If we can get them into kindergarten having had a year full of social skills, they’ll do much better.”

The new preschools, staffed by the Treasure Valley YMCA with funding from the Albertson Foundation and United Way, aim to provide the academic and social foundation to help students thrive in kindergarten and the grades to come.

Wilson and Lincoln elementaries are piloting the program, but plans call for adding preschools at all six Caldwell elementary schools, serving some 240 kids as early as next year if sufficient funding is available, said Teresa Wood-Adams, executive director of the Treasure Valley YMCA’s child development branch.

Angie Ames, one of the two preschool teachers in the Wilson classroom, said she’s seen significant improvement in the students’ ability to learn, treat others with respect and enjoy being part of a group.

Before the preschool started in late August, Endicott said, Brax spent his days at home and didn’t have much opportunity to interact with other children.

“He wasn’t talking much, and this has helped him open up,” she said. “Everyone’s his friend.”

ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC HELP

The district’s P16 preschools follow the Y’s Guided Discovery program, but with a stronger academic focus, Wood-Adams said. Children attend preschool Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, educators from the Lee Pesky Learning Center work with the teachers to discuss student progress and teaching strategies.

“We’ve got a lot of children who need that additional academic help," Wood-Adams said.

More than three-quarters of the Caldwell preschool students would likely score a 1, or below grade level, on the Idaho Reading Indicator test that is given to all kindergarteners, Ames said.

“We want them to get to 3 (above grade level),” Wood–Adams said.

In September, about three weeks after school started, the Caldwell preschoolers took pre-assessment tests for math and reading/language skills. About 72 percent of the students were assessed as below average in math performance, and 67 percent came in below average for reading. Only two students were assessed as above average in each category.

The students won’t be re-assessed until the end of the year, Wood-Adams said, but they seem to be making good progress.

“They come for just a few hours, but they learn a lot,” said Christina Ramirez, whose 3-year-old daughter Aaliyah attends the afternoon preschool at Wilson.

Maritza Betancourt said she has seen “a big difference” in the three months since her sons Dominik and Mario, ages 3 and 4, started attending Wilson’s morning preschool.

“They know the letters and the sounds they make,” she said. “Mario’s rhyming a lot at home now. He’s going to start kindergarten next year, and he’s ready.”

WHY CALDWELL?

The spark of P16, named for preschool through grade 16, came via the findings of a United Way-commissioned report released in the spring of 2010. That study found that Caldwell had the lowest college-going rate of the six Treasure Valley districts that provided their data, including Boise, Meridian, Melba, Parma and Vallivue. Caldwell’s rate was 23 percent, compared to a Valley-wide average of 46 percent.

Within four years, district leaders aim to more than double the percentage of Caldwell students who go on to college. And P16 partners hope the project will spark similar efforts across Idaho and beyond.

About 83 percent of the preschool students qualify for financial assistance to help cover the fee. Some of the students are bilingual, and all of them speak English, Wood-Adams said, although a few preschoolers at Lincoln have limited English skills and get some of their instruction in Spanish.

Parent involvement has been strong, Wood-Adams said. All four preschool classes held their first round of parent-teacher conferences in October, and only one child had no parent attend. This week, parents will come back to the classrooms for a family open house, and family events will be held about once a month, she said.

“We’ve seen great things out of that group,” Raney said. “There are some pretty high-needs kiddos, and … they’re going to be ready for kindergarten next year.”

Raney said he feels lucky his school was one of the two chosen to pilot the preschool program. And he’s grateful for the United Way, Albertson Foundation and other community partners that make P16 possible.

“The YMCA has done a phenomenal job,” he said. “They provide the teachers and the furniture. It really costs us no more than the lights to be turned on.”

Kristin Rodine: 373-6447