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New PISD program targets kindergarten students
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
Plano ISD will roll out a kindergarten preparatory program at two campuses this summer, aiming to improve the transition of students as they enter a learning environment for the first time.
The pilot program is being launched at Jackson and Huffman elementaries, two schools located in southwest Plano with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students. The program hopes to enroll 60 students, and could be spread to additional campuses if the inaugural year is deemed a success.
"As we worked with our kindergarten teachers and principals they told us that at some of our schools, we have more and more students coming to kindergarten that have no prior experience and have never been a pre-kindergarten," said Jayne Cantwell, the district's executive director for elementary academic services.
Lisa Awbrey, the district's early childhood coordinator, said teachers at each school tend to know which pockets of children are going to need the most help, and are looking at ways to target those groups to get them involved.
"Throughout the whole process, we kind of overlaid the idea that this program needed to be about acclimating children to the whole culture of the school because these are the identified groups that have had no introduction at all," Awbrey said. "School is a really strange place and we spend so much time up front trying to make [students] comfortable and meet the foundational needs they are missing. The whole idea of how school works."
Economically disadvantaged students make up 24.6 percent of the district's overall population, but the percentages are far higher at the two pilot schools. The statewide percentage of economically disadvantaged students is 59 percent.
Nearly 51 percent of Jackson's students are classified as economically disadvantaged, compared to 48.5 percent at Huffman. However, the Huffman numbers will likely decrease during the upcoming school year since the school board approved modifications to Huffman attendance zone which will take students at several apartment complexes, many of whom are economically disadvantaged, and move them to other campuses.
The district has budgeted $29,000 for the first year of the program, which includes transportation to and from the schools, as well as additional curriculum that can be used during the regular school year. Richard Matkin, the district's chief financial officer and soon-to-be superintendent, said even with state funding cuts, there is room in the budget for programs such that reach at-risk children.
"We are having to retool and get smaller with our budgets," Matkin said, adding that he sees an expanded program being a part of next year's budget if the pilot program is a success. "But that doesn't mean we can't take programs and get better at what we do. I think it is all about spending money in the right places. ... These are the kids we have got to reach."
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