Windsor Unified School District (WUSD) recently announced that it would expand its preschool and transitional kindergarten (PreK-TK) program to include younger students starting in the 2022-23 academic school year, three years ahead of the state mandate to do so.
PreK-TK programs begin teaching preschool-aged children the basics they will need as they enter kindergarten and first grade, and the new expansion will be open to all children turning 4 by Sept. 1 each school year, effectively adding a new grade for 4-year-olds too young to enter kindergarten.
Currently, two Windsor schools, Mattie Washburn Elementary (Mattie) and Cali Calmécac Language Academy (Cali), offer one 24-student PreK-TK class each. The expansion, which will include younger students, will see four additional PreK-TK classes at Cali, and five or six additional PreK-TK classes at Mattie, depending on community interest and enrollment.
Enrollment for each PreK-TK class will be capped at 24 students, with at least two faculty members per class: one certified teacher with 24 units of early child development and one teaching assistant. Depending on enrollment, the district could hire up to 20 new faculty members this summer. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the teacher-to-student ratio from 12:1 to 10:1.
PreK-TK classes will be held from around 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the district is also developing new after school programs to hopefully provide education and childcare services for a total of nine hours per day, allowing parents to work uninterrupted, according to Coordinator of District Communications Heather Bailey.
“We are so excited to be offering this opportunity to our families here in Windsor,” Superintendent Jeremy Decker said in a statement from the district. “The value to students to get off on the right foot with their education is incalculable. There is a severe shortage of affordable, high-quality PreK-TK classrooms available to families. We decided to meet this need head on by offering free PreK-TK to our entire community.”
According to WUSD Child Development Coordinator Jessica Borland, the district had begun working on an expanded PreK-TK program last summer, after Decker saw a need to serve the community in response to limited or inaccessible child care opportunities.
“(Superintendent Decker’s) vision was to provide more services for families. He really saw the decline in child care and support services and how families were needing additional support due to the pandemic,” Borland said.
Borland, who has been with WUSD for 17 years in various roles, stepped into the child development coordinator position last year to help realize this vision, just before the state’s announcement meant additional funding dollars would help make it a reality.
In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 130, a $2.7 billion universal PreK-TK bill that requires California school districts to begin lowering the age for admission into the new, extra grade over the next three years. WUSD, however, decided to open enrollment to the entirety of the lower age group beginning next fall because it means providing child care to community members in need.
The state requires schools to accept kids with a cut-off birthday of Feb. 2 next year, with that date changing annually over three years, incrementally expanding PreK-TK eligibility until it includes all 4-year-olds born before Sept. 1.
“We decided to go all in because that meets our goal of providing more childcare,” Borland said.
Borland said that in addition to serving families by providing free child care to younger students, PreK-TK and similar programs help prepare students for successful academic careers.
“We see kids that get preschool or TK at higher chances of high school graduation. More of them go on to college. It just sets them up for a good beginning,” she said.
Borland said the curriculum is still in development, as the existing PreK-TK program uses a modified kindergarten curriculum, and educators will need to develop a new curriculum geared specifically towards the younger PreK-TK age group before classes begin in August. The district will be looking toward the state’s preschool standards in curriculum development, and Borland said it will likely be more play-based than the current program.
“The way teachers have been doing it is going to change. It’s going to be age-appropriate. It will be a little bit more play-based. I want to assure the public that we understand there will be kids ten months younger in these programs,” Borland said.
Windsor students will be given priority for enrollment, however, Borland said the PreK-TK program will be open for interdistrict transfers, as other WUSD grades and programs are.
“We welcome interdistrict transfers,” Borland said. “We are definitely trying to serve the entire community as best we can.”
Borland said that the district is also working to integrate state guidelines to align preschool and third grade, making the transition between grades more seamless for students. This will be accomplished through collaboration among teachers instructing the same students as students progress through grades.
Families intending to enroll their 4-year-olds in the PreK-TK program at Cali will have additional requirements, as Cali is a charter school.
