Dr. William Clark

  Superintendent’s Blog

Pre-K

February 2008

  During the month of February, a meeting was conducted with the various pre-K providers that surround the Milton Area School District.  The meeting with the providers was to review the expectations for students attending kindergarten. 

Through the discussions between the providers, teachers and administrators of the Milton Area School District, it was decided to try to offer an early registration and screening for students who attend the pre-K provider facilities and establish possible dates for kindergarten teachers to observe the pre-K sites.  The goals of the early screening will be to allow the district to provide an overview of expectations for students who will be enrolling in kindergarten and alleviate some parental fears surrounding the transition to kindergarten.  Issues to be reviewed are kindergarten registration, transportation, and kindergarten curriculum.  The goal of the observation dates will be to allow the pre-K instructors and elementary teachers an opportunity to interact and exchange teaching strategies.

An orientation will be held on March 19, 2008 at White Deer Elementary School.  At that time, students who are attending the providers’ facilities will be able to be screened and registered for the coming school year.  Any parent who does not have their child attend a pre-k program is welcome to attend the orientation as well by calling White Deer Elementary at 568-6201.

Also, through the efforts of the district and the C.S.I.U., a pre-K program was started this year at the Milton Senior High School.  The idea was to have the program start at the High School in order to allow the High School students who are enrolled in the child care classes to provide assistance in the pre-K program.  This has proven successful in a variety of ways. The students feel very comfortable doing mini lessons with the teachers from the C.S.I.U. under the supervision of the child care instructor, Jill Chubb.  One student, Amanda Whipple, has undertaken a senior project of trying to raise funds for a playground right outside of the child care classroom.  She has been very successful in raising funds.  The C.S.I.U. has collaborated and provided additional funds that will allow this senior project to become a reality.

The items above are just two examples of the District trying to reach out to students who are of pre-enrollment age.  The District knows that there are many students we may not be able to reach.  Information is provided on the district web site www.milton.k12.pa.us concerning what parents of pre-K students can do with their children at home if they choose to get them kindergarten ready.

Our goal is to provide reference materials for all parents or pre-K providers in order to all allow children to make the transition to the school system as easy as possible for children and their parents.