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by Ann
Schimke, February 8, 2004, Ann Arbor News
Ann Arbor school officials propose to offer, for the first time,
tuition-based preschool classes at a new early childhood center and at
seven of the district's elementary schools. They also plan to expand the
district's all-day kindergarten offerings.
The proposals are part of a recently released $15 million plan to expand
preschool and kindergarten options over the next few years.
The plan calls for classroom additions at six district elementary schools
and renovations at a seventh school to create defined early childhood
areas that would house tuition-based preschool and extended-day
kindergarten classes.
The new center and the classroom additions and renovations would be funded
through the $227 million bond package district officials will likely ask
voters to approve in June. The school board is set to vote on the basic
components of the bond package, including the early childhood proposal, on
Wednesday. The cost of running the new preschool and kindergarten classes
would be paid for with tuition revenues from those classes, administrators
said.
District officials say the new center and preschool and kindergarten
programming will help attract more kindergartners to the district and
improve student achievement.
"We know investing in early childhood education is one of the most prudent
and responsible things a district can do if a district is serious about
increasing overall achievement for children," said Lee Ann
Dickinson-Kelley, the district's administrator for elementary education.
Administrators also hope the new offerings will bring in 60 to 100 new
kindergartners to the district.
"We believe this is best achieved by drawing families into the public
system at the preschool level," the plan states.
School districts receive state aid based on the number of students they
enroll in kindergarten through 12th grade. For Ann Arbor, which gets more
than $9,000 per child, kindergarten enrollment has historically been lower
than in other grades.
The new early childhood center would be created out of the Balas I and
Balas II administration buildings on Boardwalk Drive and would have enough
space for programming for 400-450 students.
In addition to housing the several preschool programs currently located at
High Point School on Wagner Road, the center would have space for
tuition-based preschool programs for children 2 1/2 to 5 and summer
programs such as Safety Town, which teaches basic safety practices to
students about to enter kindergarten.
The preschool program would include 10-month or year-round options and
staggered-day scheduling options.
Dickinson-Kelley said the new center is needed because High Point is no
longer big enough to house the district's early childhood programs.
"We have outgrown our space. Our programs have really grown. One, because
they're effective and, two, because they're popular."
The six schools selected for two- or three-classroom additions are Allen,
Dicken, Lakewood, Mitchell, Thurston and Wines.
Northside would not get an addition, but two existing classrooms there
would be renovated to create an early childhood cluster resembling those
at the other six schools.
The additions or renovation would provide for one preschool classroom and
one new kindergarten classroom at each of the seven schools and new
special education rooms at three schools.
At Mitchell, the new kindergarten room would house free all-day
kindergarten, while the new kindergarten rooms at the other six schools
would house tuition-based extended-day kindergarten.
Each of the seven schools will also have dedicated entry and drop-off
areas for families in the preschool and kindergarten program, parent
welcome areas and outside play space designed for young children.
Parent Kathy Matney, who sent her three elementary-age children to a
private preschool, said she might have considered a tuition-based
preschool at the public schools, but said it would have depended on cost,
class size and many other factors.
She wondered how the Ann Arbor Public Schools' proposed program would
measure up against private preschools.
"Is it going to be the best of the best?"
She said she wouldn't choose it "just because it was there."
As for more extended-day kindergarten, Matney said many parents have said
they want such programs.
"The need is definitely there."
Ann Arbor Schools' Early Childhood Plans
February 8, 2004, Ann Arbor News
Highlights from the Ann Arbor schools' $15 million plan for improvements
to its preschool, kindergarten and early childhood programs.
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Renovate two
of the district's administration buildings on Boardwalk Drive to create
a preschool and early childhood center. The center, which would open in
2006, would offer tuition-based preschool for students age 2 1/2 to 5,
Head Start classes, preschool programs for special needs students, a
young 5s program for students with fall birthdays, First Steps Washtenaw
and federally funded programs to address learning problems at a young
age. The district would no longer use space at High Point School on
Wagner Road.
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Create
clusters of early childhood classrooms at seven elementary schools.
These would house tuition-based preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds and
tuition-based extended-day kindergarten, or in one case, free all-day
kindergarten. The new clusters would require construction of 15 new
classrooms and renovation of two others. It's not clear when these
programs would start.
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Offer
extended-day kindergarten at four additional elementary schools besides
the six where new early childhood space is planned and the two schools -
Eberwhite and King - that currently offer the program. Three of the four
new sites could be added for the fall of 2004, depending on parental
demand. Ultimately, a total of 12 elementary schools would offer
extended-day kindergarten.
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