CVSD prekindergarten program makes transition to school more comfortable

"It's a great opportunity for these kids," said Karen Sullivan, First 10 administrator with the Conestoga Valley School District (CVSD). "The transition to kindergarten will be so much easier because they have been in the buildings."

Starting school on the first day of kindergarten will be more comfortable for more than 100 CVSD children thanks to the opportunity to take part in a full-day prekindergarten program made possible by a Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Grant. The program brings 3- and 4-year-olds to their homeschool (whenever possible) on a bus with their siblings. The six prekindergarten classrooms are located in Brownstown, Fritz, Smoketown, and Leola elementary schools, along with Lancaster Mennonite School. Each classroom has 18 students and two teachers. Steps to Success Inc. and Owl Hill Learning Centers are lead partners with CVSD in several of the classrooms.

Adriana Witman, school-age program administrator with Steps to Success, said that the preschool began discussing the program with CVSD early in 2023. "(This prekindergarten program) is for families at 300% of poverty level," she said. "It gives those kids the opportunity to get a high-quality education through a grant-funded program."

Steps to Success employee Anneliese Gural, lead teacher at the Leola Elementary Pre-K Counts location, said that the program uses the Creative Curriculum, which is literacy based, and that a variety of books are part of the daily learning program, including those with social and emotional stories and topics related to the learning units. The classroom has a number of learning centers, including those dedicated to science, dramatic play, blocks, a light table, art, writing, math manipulatives, fine motor skills, and sensory activities. There is also a cozy corner for problem solving and identifying feelings.

"(The students) work on fine motor skills to prepare them to write. They work on sounds, and, depending on the level of the child, they may work in small groups," said Sullivan, who noted that activities for families will be part of the program as will Play and Learns, which involve open gyms and story times intended to develop social and emotional learning and sharing skills.

To keep parents informed, Gural said, an app is used to message families throughout the day. "We send photos of the children completing work," she noted, adding that a review of the unit that is being studied is sent home, along with work on a particular subject. "We will send home simple things so families can see the progress the child has made in the areas we're working on," she said.

One important factor in easing a child's first-day anxiety is knowing the teacher. Gural said that children may meet their future kindergarten teachers at Play and Learns. "The kids have that familiar face," she said. Knowing where the office and cafeteria are located also translates into a stronger foundation when a child begins kindergarten the following fall.

Readers who wish to learn more about the CVSD prekindergarten program may visit http://www.conestogavalley.org/Page/4877.