Head Start programs sprout in Caldwell elementaries

Caldwell School District is making room in three elementary schools for federally funded Head Start programs it hopes could lead to even more pre school students attending classes before entering kindergarten.

Classes began Tuesday will be held at Lewis and Clark, Lincoln and Wilson elementariness along side the district’s pre school for special needs students.

The classes will allow Caldwell School District to offer a curriculum that helps Head Start students be school ready when they enter kindergarten. Many children who come into kindergarten are unfamiliar with how to work in groups or stand in line. Kindergarten teachers can spend weeks teaching students how to be ready for the school environment.

The three Head Start classes, which will have 60 students total, will not initially increase the number of students in preschool programs, district officials say.

But long range, the district hopes to play off the Head Start programs to increase preschool opportunities for other students through private funding, said Shalene French, district superintendent.

Idaho law does not permit schools to spend state tax dollars on pre school programs.

This story was originally published January 4, 2017 at 10:36 AM with the headline "Head Start programs sprout in Caldwell elementaries."