District Administration - July 2010 - (Page 75)

which they visit one another’s schools and meet in seminars with expert consultants. Among other things, they review good practices as defined by NAEYC’s accreditation standards and criteria. Selecting the Students Enrollment in public preschool programs is voluntary, and children must be 3 or 4 years old by a certain date, usually September 1, to be eligible for a program starting that fall. Even if they meet the age eligibility, space limitations mean that not all children are accepted. With witnesses observing in the Shining Stars Preschool in New Mexico, says Harper, “we literally pick the names from a box. It’s really hard to tell parents that their child didn’t get accepted. It kills me every year.” But she accepts some students from a waiting list throughout the school year when enrolled students’ families move away. The West Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools, with preschool programs in three schools, selects students through a lottery based partly on their families’ financial needs. For its preschool funding, the district depends largely on tuition paid by parents, which will be up to $7,200 per student in 2010-2011, depending on families’ ability to pay, with additional support from other resources, including the Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools. In a total enrollment of 48 students this fall, families of 24 children will be expected to pay full tuition, says Superintendent Karen List. Up to about 6,000 children usually are found age-eligible for preschool in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Schools, but the district can accept only about 4,000, and those with the “greatest educational need,” determined by intensive prescreening, are at the top of the list, says Julie Babb, who directs the program. In Boston, “everyone has the same opportunity” to get into the district’s preschools, with “no priorities for any particular group,” says Sachs. But placing them in the right schools is a “complex issue,” he admits. “What you want to avoid is segregating low-income children with other low-income children. The model we should all be striving for is diversity in both ethnicity and income.” Culture Changes Beyond curriculum and the quality of their teachers, districts have to pay attention to other details important to the success of preschool programs. As BPS retrofitted its school buildings to accommodate preschool classrooms, bathrooms were a challenge, says Sachs. It cost from $5,000 to $30,000 each, depending on the proximity of plumbing, to install one bathroom, with low seats and sinks, next to each classroom. “If you do not have a Let iStartSmart Be Your Guide. ™ S PROGRESING OR MONIT E @ TH CFLBIUCK! O A TTON ALL-IN-ONE TOUCHSCREEN COMPUTER nology that promo Revolutionary Instructional Tech Exclusively by tes School Readiness! 877.386.9161 HatchEarlyChildhood.com AD: Hatch iStartSmart Ad VENUE: District Administration ISSUE: AUG TRIM SIZE: 6.75 x 4.35 Untitled-1.indd 1 www.DistrictAdministration.com 7/13/10 1:28 PM July/August 2010 75 http://www.HatchEarlyChildhood.com http://www.HatchEarlyChildhood.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2010

District Administration - July 2010
Contents
Advertiser Index
Letters
From the Editor
News Update
Sustainability Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
The Golden State Loses Its Luster
Seeking Justice in San Francisco
The Push for Public Preschool
Gearing up for the New Assessment
Books
Products
Online Edge
Supervisor’s Insights
Crisis Response
Supervisor’s Opinion
Tech Disruptions
Professional Opinion
Professional Opinion

District Administration - July 2010