Early Childhood Planning Coordinator

Why Public Pre-Kindergarten?

Overview of Publicly Funded Pre-K: During the 2007 legislative session, Vermont legislators passed Act 62, an act for publicly funded pre-kindergarten. This decision was based on substantial research that demonstrates the importance of learning during the early childhood years and the positive impact kindergarten readiness can have on a child’s future success in school. For Springfield School District, kindergarten readiness means that children enter kindergarten able to:

-attend to lessons –academic readiness such as letter, number and shape recognition

-follow directions and routines 

-sit as a group for instruction 

-take turns

-share 

-understand the proper use of tools, such as scissors and writing instruments.

Children who come into school unprepared often require more attention and resources and struggle to keep up with their prepared peers. Unprepared children also demonstrate a higher incidence of behavior issues.

Publicly Funded Pre-K is a provision for children ages 3-5 to receive tuition reduction for 6-10 hours a week of preschool services in a licensed center or registered home meeting Act 62 requirements. School Districts are restricted in the number of children they can serve and a nondiscriminatory selection process is used if the number of applications is more than the cap allowed by the act.

Act 62 has set quality standards for school partners who provide pre-k services to the school district’s children. These requirements include one of the following accreditations:

4 or more STARS as determined by AHS, or

3 STARS with a plan to achieve 4 STARS within 3 years or

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation

Act 62 also requires that school partners receive oversight by a Vermont licensed teacher.

In Springfield School District, we partner with 4 Springfield registered homes and licensed centers. At this time, they are: Safe n’Sound, SEVCA Windsor County Head Start Pine Street Preschool, Springfield Area Parent Child Center (PlayWorks and Learning Partners), and Suzy’s Little Peanuts. We also have one out of district partner, Saxton’s River Montessori School.

How does this affect the taxpayers of Springfield School District? By counting publicly funded pre-k children in our school census, Springfield School District is able to draw down more funding from the State education funds. In fact, serving more children has the effect of slightly lowering the tax rate. What can you do to help? Publicly funded pre-k needs your support! You can help by spreading the word about its benefits throughout the Springfield community. Publicly funded pre-k is part of the school budget that Springfield voters will be asked to approve on voting day.

For more information about publicly funded pre-k in Springfield please contact Gladys Collins at 885-1150 or by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Attachments:

File	File size
Application for Pre-K	118 Kb
Pre-K Information 2011	105 Kb
Pre-K Notice 2011	25 Kb