More public schools in Morris opening tuition-based preschools
posted by Loki on Feb.5.2010 at 1:41 pm
|
By LAURA BRUNO
The Daily Record
Two public school districts in Morris County, Harding and East Hanover, are opening tuition-based preschool programs next fall, following in the footsteps of half-a-dozen others who have opened up a limited number of preschool seats to nondisabled children the past five years.
Half of Morris County’s elementary public school districts — 19 of 35 — will offer some general education preschool by September 2010, all touting certified teachers, state-approved curriculum’s and access to some art, music, media and physical education instruction.
Still, free public preschool classes for general education students are a scarcity in Morris County. Only five districts offer free preschool programs, and all but two are fully underwritten by state funding. Just Netcong and Mine Hill offer families free preschool for resident families as part of their local program without state funding.
Former Gov. Jon Corzine had promoted an ambitious plan to expand preschool to low-income “at-risk” students in all districts over several years, but that was shelved due to the recession. Gov. Chris Christie has said that such a program would be too costly.
In most cases locally, the preschool doors are opening to the general education population as local districts are seeking to offer their preschool disabled students on-site interaction with nondisabled peers. Public schools are mandated by federal law to provide preschool for children with disabilities, beginning at age 3. In addition, they must expose the children with special needs to their typically developing peers. Previously, some were busing the children with disabilities to private preschools once a week to fulfill that requirement.
“Our main motivation was to provide a mainstreaming opportunity for our preschool children with disabilities,” Florham Park Superintendent William Ronzitti said.
The result, Ronzitti said, is that all the students have shown improved language and socialization skills.
Proponents of preschool say that it smooths the transition for all children before they enter kindergarten. This way, the focus in kindergarten is on learning pre-literacy and computing skills. Children today are coming to kindergarten with varying levels of abilities and preschool helps level the playing field some, said Ernest Palestis, interim superintendent in Mine Hill and Wharton. Mine Hill has one of the longest-running preschool programs in Morris County, predating 1989, Palestis said.
“What’s critical is getting off to a good start — they need to be taught how to become a student,” Palestis said. “In the long run, preschool has the potential to reduce costs. If you come out of first grade a reader, you are not likely to encounter learning issues later on.”
Florham Park, Montville and Mountain Lakes all opened general education preschool programs in September 2009, largely as a way to provide same-age models for their children with disabilities. Mendham started a similar program in 2008, and it’s become so popular the district has a waiting list for fall 2010. Parsippany, which has the largest program with close to 100 preschool children, began its program in 2006. This month, Parsippany opened a sixth class in the Eastlake School and plans to open a seventh class there in September.
Harding and East Hanover will open their programs in September, also offering integrated preschool classes where children, both disabled and nondisabled, will learn together in the same classroom.
For Harding, it will be the first time any preschool program will be offered in-district, Harding Superintendent Timothy Purnell said. The K-8 district has sent its children with disabilities to out-of-district programs previously. Purnell said the district can provide a comprehensive program, save money and allow children to attend classes together at the earliest age.
Likewise, East Hanover Superintendent Joseph Ricca said the research is clear that preschool has socialization and early literacy benefits for all children. East Hanover established a local program first for children with disabilities and now is adding seats for general education students.
In Butler, educators were hoping that their preschool program would serve two needs — integrating the children with special needs and attracting some children whose families could not afford a private preschool program, said Virginia Scala, principal of the Aaron Decker School. The district opened the program in September 2008. But when the budget for 2009 was rejected by voters, the program was cut. The program was reinstated with federal stimulus funding, but for three days a week instead of five.
“We’re trying to hold on as much as we can,” Scala said. “Three days is better than none.”
As the children in the preschool class at Decker finished eating a snack one day this week, teacher Jill Dunlop took out a stuffed hippopatamus hand puppet to talk about the letter H.
“What’s a hippo eat?” 4-year-old Morgan asked spontaneously.
“They eat water and leaves,” piped up 4-year-old Emma.
Dunlop then asked the children one-by-one to put folders away into their backpacks, a skill the kindergarten teachers asked her to teach.
Seemingly simple tasks, such as sitting at a table for a snack, walking in a line in the hallway and putting belongings in their backpacks are just as important as learning the alphabet at this stage, Scala said.
If they master these skills of becoming a student in preschool, it makes the transition to kindergarten much smoother, so they don’t lose three months getting adjusted, she said. In addition, the preschool is giving teachers an extra year to catch some students with difficulties early on, Scala said.
Two of the children currently in the Butler program come from Spanish-speaking households, so they are receiving English-as-a-Second-Language services, and another child was identified with a speech disability.
Morgan’s mother, Melanie Maher, said she was relieved to find an affordable preschool in town. A stay-at-home mother, Maher said she didn’t think her family could afford a private school.
Her daughter attended last year as a 3-year-old and is attending again this year. Morgan can now write her name, she said.
“I wanted her to get a head start for school and learn the basics — she enjoys learning, she was ready.”