The North Santiam School District moves forward with its publicly funded Preschool Promise program that provides opportunities for families to access and choose the preschool setting which best meets their needs.
The program, which expanded statewide this fall, leverages high-quality, local, and culturally relevant early childcare and education programs. Preschool Promise makes the programs available to children living at the 200 percent poverty level.
“This program was enacted by legislature back in 2015 and rolled forward in 2016,” said Natasha Kirby, the Preschool Promise teacher at Stayton Elementary School. “The North Santiam School District was awarded this grant, and we were able to start building the program foundation in mid-November. We are currently servicing eight families and their preschool-aged children through a home-based learning model. This is temporary while our classroom is being built.”
According to Kirby, each week the families get four days worth of activities in an organized packet.
“There are puppet activities that introduce social and emotional skills,” Kirby said. “The packet includes manipulatives and puzzles to build fine-motor skills and letter/number recognition. I have also included games and simple educational crafts as well as activities to promote pre-writing skills. Parents are reporting that the activities are easy to follow and implement AND FUN!”
Kirby said the program also encourages parents to start getting into a nightly reading habit with 10 minutes a day.
“We provide three books a week inside the packet for them to exchange each week,” she said.
Kirby hopes to transition to a hybrid model, a Tuesday/Thursday cohort and Wednesday/Friday cohort by Jan. 19.
“This hybrid model is in response to the COVID-19 guidelines,” she said. “Of course, we will be following all safety procedures regarding C-19.”
Currently, the district is filling its applicant pool through the state’s Early Learning Division that processes applications and determines eligibility, Kirby said.
“The grant covers staffing, classroom furnishing, supplies, technology and playground equipment,” she said. “Parental feedback regarding the home-based learning model and eventual in-person preschool opportunity has been very positive!”
The home-based learning activities in place now serve many purposes, including helping families with structured learning activities to do with children that will help them transition into the classroom session, Kirby said.
“It is also helping to build strong parent-teacher relationships through daily contact that will only benefit the education process moving forward into in-person learning,” she added. “Most importantly, the kids are already boosting development from the daily activities they are engaging in.”
Kirby said Stayton Elementary has about 100 kindergartners coming in each year, but only 18 spots for children age four in the SES preschool program are available.
“These are precious spots, and we will fill them,” she said. “Our hope is that community members who have kids going into kindergarten in the fall will take advantage of this awesome opportunity!
“Despite all the craziness of this year, we are so excited to get started,” Kirby added. “We are happy that we are able to provide this service to families in our community.”
According to the Early Learning Division web information, Preschool Promise works with families who may need a little extra help as they start their parenting journey and those families that may have particular needs.
“All this work strengthens our mission of supporting all of Oregon’s young children and families to learn and thrive,” program staff agree. “The programs we help fund are a collective, responsible for positive outcomes for our children and closing the opportunity gap for those furthest from opportunity.”
For more information, call Kirby at Stayton Elementary, 503-769-2336 during school hours or contact her via email at [email protected]. A brochure is available at www.smore.com/za218.
