Newsday Supports Kindergarten Assessments

[Chris_Wendt]

www.newsday.com/opinion/kindergarten-assessment-good-for-kids-1.3264112

This is a good read.

I agree with the concept and the proposal on the table.

To me, the most significant part is the somewhat down-played feature of the proposal, to establish a quality-rating system for providers of "early education", meaning, education programs prior to Kindergarten.

If nothing else, this could drive a clear distinction between "pre-SCHOOLS" and "Day Care" or high-priced baby-sitting.

There is nothing wrong with baby-sitting services or day care programs, unless they hang the word "SCHOOL" in their name or title, but do not deliver any real education to the children in their care.

A question would arise if a day care provider did not intend to be a "pre-school", were perfectly happy being just a day care service, and therefore did not apply to be rated under the pending proposal...yet they kept the word "school" in their name.

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Full-day Kindergarten is a related topic, and one which places me at odds with some people, in that I strongly favor the implementation of Full-day K in Wantagh.

Recently, I was told that one of our building principals stated that Wantagh would "never" have Full-day K. I don't know if that was personal frustration talking, or a recital of some mantra developed in secret district planning at the cabinet level.

I do know that any plan for Full-day K, as a stand-alone issue, would be seriously flawed, as far as being able to properly serve the needs of many families in Wantagh.

My understanding of this market need indicates a comprehensive, affordable, and flexible solution would be required, including a combination of pre-school, Full-day K, and extended-hours 'child care' service before-and-after either pre-school or Full-day K programs.

Right now, I am interested in hearing from anyone with ideas in these areas: Pre-K, Full-day K, extended-hour child care services.

Reach out to me confidentially at [e-mail] if you care to share or weigh-in.

Sincerely,
Chris Wendt

[cathy]

The way that NY State treats Kindergarten is so confusing to me. It's not mandated, so kids can start school in 1st grade if parents so choose. Yet the state has created a fairly rigorous curriculum for K that I'm told by K teachers in two other districts is virtually impossible to get through in a half day setting.

I think it will be interesting to see if other districts who have moved to full day K move back to half day with the 2% tax cap. Since it's not mandated it's one of the easiest places for them to make cuts.

[lilly]

I'm not sure that many districts will move back to 1/2 day Kind since the # is something like 98% of NYS public schools have full day. Wantagh is in a minuscule minority to say the least. Some maybe and Newsday may blow that out of proportion in their reporting if it happens.

I don't buy Wantagh's current band-aid approach in letting SCOPE provide a program. The perception among parents of what the program actually is differs by school. Can't have 'pay to play' sports or full day Kind would be your first clue it's not a full day Kind program.

Chris, are you suggesting the district be involved/responsible for pre-school and day care?

[lilly]

PS Cathy, that is an interesting comment from Kind teachers outside of Wantagh.

[Chris_Wendt]

Lilly asked: "Chris, are you suggesting the district be involved/responsible for pre-school and day care?"

No. But that points-up the whole problem, parochial (not meaning religious) interests that (in Wantagh) do not always work together for the common good.

The market I would address is children from ages 3 through 8, or some subset of that range. The services required by this market include child care and early education, meaning for this discussion, preschool through first or second grade. The parameters of these services encompass the hours of 7AM through 6 PM Monday through Friday (full schedule or partial, depending upon each customer's circumstances), and must be credible, flexible (EASY) and affordable. The core of the day would be "school" (education) program, while the day would begin/end with "child care".

Obviously, the school district should be involved with the K-2 (primary) curriculum and delivery component, and could be involved in each component to some degree. Or, the school district could sit back and hand the whole thing off to a charter school operator, or, two or more contiguous school districts, e.g. Wantagh, Seaford, Plainedge, the Bellmores and the Merricks could form a consolidated early education center that might look more like Central Islip's than SCOPE. This center could be housed in more than one building in more than one community.

One helpful hint would be that many of the customers would be parents who commute to the City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens) and New Jersey by train-the LIRR, NYCTA, NJT and PATH. So, facilities located in EASY proximity to Babylon Branch LIRR Stations would be preferable. The facilities would not have to be school buildings, but if two neighboring districts (like Wantagh and North Bellmore, for example) were both wrestling with whether or not to close under-utilized or unnecessary school buildings, then THIS PROGRAM could be the answer!

Or a charter school operator could come along and snap-up that vacant school in Seaford (the one practically on the Wantagh border) and take the "problem" (and the opportunity) completely out of our hands. (The MONEY, too).

It is not too hard to think out of the box on this one.

Feedback about this is welcome at [e-mail]

Thank you for asking.

Chris Wendt

[lilly]

Those are some good ideas.

I'll throw this one into the mix when/if the district takes a proactive role in looking at community programs for ages 3-8. The start times of the schools may have something to do with bus efficiencies.

However, it is a known fact high schoolers (teens) biologically need more sleep while at the same time, many are night owls. Yet most HS's start earliest to allow for after school jobs, sports and such. This creates a problem with chronic lateness for some and kids practically asleep the first few periods.

OTOH, I've never understood Wantagh's 9:15 start for elementary. It doesn't even make sense for parents that work on LI let alone the commuters who are on 7 am trains. Not all but many elem kids are early risers. Starting their 1/2 day kindergarten school at noon on would not have made sense for my kids since they were naturally up at (the dreaded) 5 or 6 am. (If they slept in until 8, that was usually a clue they were or were getting sick - gotta love the petri dishes that are schools at that age.) Although they were in Kind enrichment programs (not Wantagh's) for the afternoon, for them their learning should occur when they are freshest (mornings) especially since it was only a half day program.

[Chris_Wendt]

I had written a quick reply, re-read it, then deleted what I had written, deciding to reflect more on this for the time being. Thought-provoking; thanks for that.

Chris