This pre-K summer program helps Tarrant families transition ahead of school year
The first day of school in the fall for pre-K families can be a major transition. For many children, it’s their first time socializing with their peers while being separated from their parents, relatives or caregivers. One Tarrant County school district wants to make that transition smoother.
Castleberry ISD’s Camp Discovery: Pre-K Jumpstart program gives incoming pre-K students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the school environment over the summer, and the routines that come with it. Educators say the road bumps that typically show up during the first week of school are resolved over the summer for students who enroll in the half-day program, which runs Monday through Friday from late May to late June.
“The first week (of school) is rough in pre-K because the kids are trying to get acclimated to the routines and the procedures. There’s a whole lot of crying, and it’s a long day for them. They’re just not used to it,” said June Ritchlin, executive director of educational leadership for Castleberry ISD. “What the teachers tell us is (the program) is a game changer, that they start off right from the get-go. Their kids are prepared and ready for the school year because of the summer program.”
For students who attend a pre-K program, it marks the beginning of their educational career and sets the foundation for how they perform in their later academic years. Research shows that public preschool attendance is correlated to higher performance in third-grade reading and math.
On Monday morning, 4-year-olds and soon-to-be 4-year-olds walked in single-file lines to their classrooms at Castleberry Elementary School after eating breakfast. They reviewed the days of the week — spelling “Monday” by tracing the letters in the air with their fingers — and sang the months of the year during circle time. Then they moved to stations of their choice, some choosing to spell their names in Play-Doh while others pretended to cook a meal in the play kitchen.
Pre-K teacher Sarah Waits said the program eases the anxiety and stress of entering the school environment for both students and parents since they know what to expect ahead of the school year.
“I notice a difference in the students that have come for the summer versus those who have not,” she said. “You see the little songs that we do. Those are the same songs we’re going to do in August. They know that we do a morning greeting when we first come in the door, they already know that. So the other students just kind of fall in line right behind.”
In a bilingual classroom next door to Waits’ class, students made predictions in Spanish on which objects would float or sink — flotar or hundirse — in a bucket of water. Students who are dominant in the opposite language learn from each other, too, said pre-K teacher Nancy Martinez. Labels throughout the classroom include both English and Spanish translations.
“The more we get them in school, the more successful they’ll be,” Martinez said. “Academically, socially, emotionally — they love school, and they’re ready to learn.”
Students are also able to form friendships ahead of August. Heidi Woodall’s son, 4-year-old Wesley, is already a good friend of Kayla Parsons’ son Miguel, who turns 4 this week. Both mothers are teachers themselves at Castleberry Elementary.
“I think that’s been the greatest part. He talks about his friends,” Parsons said of Miguel.
Woodall noted how Wesley has also socialized with older peers in the school, including Woodall’s third-grade students.
“The social interaction for him has been really good,” Woodall added.
