Gwinnett tots go to high school to prepare for kindergarten

One morning a week, about two dozen 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds roam the hallways of Gwinnett County’s Meadowcreek High School for a class.

The children are not wonderkids who are learning subjects that high school students here study. Nor are they Gwinnett County students.

Gwinnett school board member Louise Radloff recently started a pilot pre-kindergarten program for children in her area to get more of them ready for kindergarten. In recent years, Gwinnett school leaders say more children are entering kindergarten who are not adequately prepared academically for school. Gwinnett, the state's largest school district, is working on a long-range plan to partner with day care centers, pediatricians and private pre-kindergarten classes to coach children up before entering kindergarten.

“The foundation in the early grades is absolutely critical,” said Radloff, who joined Gwinnett’s school board in 1973 and is its longest-serving member.

Gwinnett officials believe another byproduct of children not being prepared for kindergarten is more of them being disciplined. Suspensions of kindergarten students are up from the prior school year, school district officials say.

The classes, held on Saturday mornings, are free. The school is open for students getting tutoring for the state’s Georgia Milestones exams. Parents sit with their children and help with some of their tasks. Two Gwinnett County kindergarten teachers teach the classes, with the help of two paraprofessionals. The program began earlier this year and is nine weeks long.

State education officials have benchmarks for kindergarten students that include writing some letters of the alphabet and taking toys apart and reassembling them. The teachers in Gwinnett’s pilot program say they’re seeing improvements in the children, who are reciting the alphabet, writing their names and developing fine motor skills they’ll need when they become kindergarten students.

Radloff’s district includes the highest-percentage of low-income students, and many students who are not taking pre-kindergarten classes. Some parents cannot afford day care, and the waiting list for Georgia’s free pre-kindergarten program is in the thousands.

Federal, state and local education officials cite data that show early-childhood education produces students who do better in kindergarten and are more likely to graduate from high school.

On a recent Saturday, class began with the children in front of a projector screen, watching an animated video that teaches them the names of various body parts.

“Heads, shoulders, knees and toes,” the voice on the video and the teachers sing, touching each body part.

Most of the children sing along.

The kids then color and cut red and white paper hats shaped like Dr. Seuss’ “Cat in the Hat.” They also work on their numbers and letters with tablet computers.

Esveyde Recendiz, whose 5-year-old daughter, Evangelin, is in the class, said she has noticed improvements, such as more interest in reading.

“It’s paying off,” Recendiz said.

Albert Ogbo said his 3-year-old daughter, Ify, can now identify numbers.

“It’s like a foundation for her,” he said of the class.

Radloff said nearly 50 students were initially registered for the class, but half of them didn’t attend because their parents do not have transportation to get to the class. Radloff said she hopes to find ways to help more students whose parents can’t attend the class because of such issues. She hopes Gwinnett can expand the program to all Title I schools in Gwinnett. A Title I school is a school with a high percentage of low-income students.

“We’ll pay on the front end, or on the tail end,” she said.