Transcript Foundations Kindergarten Powerpoint

Foundations Kindergarten is the first year
of a two year kindergarten experience
designed to give the gift of time to our
youngest kindergarten eligible students.
 Parents may voluntarily put their child into
Foundations if they feel that their child
may not be ready academically, socially
or emotionally for a traditional
kindergarten experience.
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We began our Foundations
Kindergarten in the fall of
2004.
We have 2 Foundations
classes with 26 students
each born between
August and December of
2006.
Placement in this class is by
parent request. Because
we have more parent
requests than spots to
accommodate all children,
we hold a lottery in the
spring before school
begins.
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Kindergarten teacher generated
Our youngest kindergarten children were not
socially, emotionally or academically prepared for
the rigorous kindergarten standards.
Parents were choosing to keep their children home
versus paying for an extra year of preschool.
Our number of retentions were increasing due to
students not meeting kindergarten standards.
Some parents were choosing not to retain their
child against teacher recommendation.
Foundations is a two year program
where meeting all kindergarten
standards is a two year goal.
 Focus is on beginning kindergarten
standards such as phonemic awareness,
letter knowledge and number sense.
 More emphasis on the social, emotional,
and maturity aspect of the state
standards.
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How Do We Know It
Is Working?
From
Principals
From
Kindergarten
Teachers
From Parents
•“The children that come to me
after a year of Foundations are
better prepared than their peers.
They are ready to dive right into
our learning environment.”
•“We are so thankful that the
Foundations Kindergarten exists
and for the opportunity to be in
the program. It has met so many
of my son’s needs and has given
him such a strong beginning to his
school years yet to come!”
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
7.7
7.7
53.8
30.8
57.7
84.6
50
38.5
7.7
30.8
26.9
15.4
19.2
34.6
34.6
Proficient
Approaching
Below
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
88.5
11.5
73.1
11.5
15.4
61.5
61.5
38.5
38.5
92.3
7.7
Proficient
Approaching
Below
Children are better prepared for a
traditional kindergarten program after
attending Foundations kindergarten.
 Parent Support and involvement
 Developing confident and mature
students
 Positive feedback
 Ability to meet the needs of the four year
olds in our district.
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