Calling for the City Council Committee on Education and the Committee on Children and Youth to hold hearings on the establishment of a plan to deal with the transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten.

WHEREAS, Currently District Kindergarten classrooms are receiving children from up to 10 or more different pre-k centers, with few Pre-K centers sending more that 1-5 kids to the same kindergarten class room; and

WHEREAS, This creates a huge burden on elementary schools and teachers as they are faced with the challenge of having to educate children with extremely different levels of experience and skills from the various Pre-K centers these children are coming from; and

WHEREAS, Many families do not pre-register their children for Kindergarten in the spring, resulting in inadequate preparation time for schools and teachers; and

WHEREAS, Failure to register children in Kindergarten on time causes delays in the classroom to the extent that it takes time from tasks that are foundational for learning and causes a ripple effect that results in negative outcomes throughout a child’s primary education experience; and

WHEREAS, This year, the School District offers pre-registration for Kindergarten from January 19th to May 31st and will hold two district-wide pre-registration open houses on March 4th and during the week of May 9th thru May 13th; and

WHEREAS, There is often a lack of communication and relationship building between Pre-K providers and Kindergarten teachers, which is important for better outcomes as children transition to Kindergarten; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the City Council Committee on Education and the Committee on Children and Youth, Hold hearings on the establishment of plan to deal with the transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten.

End