In September of 2017, something new arrived at BFDay…a City of Seattle sponsored Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) classroom, complete with three wonderful staff and 20 high energy 4- and 5-year-olds. Led by Ms. Alice, with Mrs. Monica and Mr. Alvin, these 20 amazing children have been rocking room 206 with energy, learning, and community.
The Pre-K program welcomes children from families across the city. It was established in 2015 starting with 33 classrooms across the city and has now expanded to 54 classrooms throughout Seattle. The program provides sliding scale quality pre-kindergarten that emphasizes preparing children for school, development of pre-academic skills, and of course, those social and emotional skills that fit right into the way the BF Day community works. It is a place to reduce readiness-to-learn gaps.
Research has shown that every dollar invested in early childhood education returns many times back in benefits (read some of the data here: https://www.impact.upenn.edu/our-analysis/opportunities-to-achieve-impact/early-childhood-toolkit/why-invest/what-is-the-return-on-investment/)
As a grandparent of one of the Pre-K students, I can validate that our granddaughter has been thriving in class, loves her teachers and new friends, and is growing in her learning and ability to be a productive member of her class every day. Ms. Alice and Mrs. Monica regularly send home pictures and descriptions of what the children are doing in class which helps us feel informed and connected. Our children and grandchildren are also getting pretty savvy about BF Day and will be great hosts for any new kindergartners joining us. They know all the fun places to play, how to behave in the hallways, and of course, the BF Day song.
You don’t have to take just my word on it. Here’s a quote from another happy parent:
The SPP has been an amazing opportunity for us as a low-income family, as we would have otherwise had limited access and opportunities to a true education. By having my child attend an actual school with caring and attentive teachers, teaching a solid curriculum, in a safe environment, we will now have a head start on a road to educational success. I truly feel this program will further my child’s opportunities in the future and we are so grateful for the education and the community that this program has built. -Sara Lanzillotta
There were many, many more applicants for our program than spaces, letting us know early on that parents were seeking quality education for their little ones. And there are still many families with children who could benefit from the Pre-K program who don’t know about it. So if you know of a family, spread the word. The applications period for the 2018-2019 program is now open through April 25th to maximize your chances of getting a spot. You can find all the details at http://www.seattle.gov/education/for-parents/child-care-and-preschool/seattle-preschool-program. You can apply from any Seattle address, even outside of the BF Day boundaries, but it is a great school for the neighborhood. (To see all school boundaries, check here.) BF Day may even have two classrooms for the 2018-2019 school year. Stay tuned!
If anyone would like to know more about our Pre-K classroom, stop in and visit, or ask any of us parents or grandparents! We love to share, just like our little folks.
How is this program funded?
“In 2014, voters approved a $58 million levy to increase children’s access to affordable, high-quality preschool and to close the kindergarten readiness gap.”
https://www.seattle.gov/education/early-learning/early-learning-providers/about-our-early-learning-programs/seattle-preschool-program
I have to laugh at wording such as “…close the kindergarten readiness gap.” So much for kids being kids these days, I guess. Who knew you had to get “ready” for kindergarten, sheesh. I don’t recall voting for this levy, but was there anything else attached to this one, too? They all seem to be “Velcro Levies” anymore with all sorts of other things attached that many of us aren’t aware of.
Children get ready for kindergarten by learning to listen to and speak English. Children of a poor parent or parents learn less language skills early in childhood because the spend less time interacting with adults. Their parents are working many hours and they can’t afford adult childminders. These children don’t catch up in school. This program attempts to narrow this gap between poorer children and other children.
There was nothing attached to the proposition. Voters were asked if they wanted to approve a pre-kindergarten proposition. 68% approved. They were then presented with two options, an unfunded and a funded option. 69% voted for the funded option. The cost is $43 per year tax on a home valued at $400,000.
Helping poorer children is the right thing. However, even if you only look at the costs, this article points out, spending on pre-kindergarten children will save taxpayers in the long run.
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King County Voters Pamphlet, 2014 General Election, Proposition 1B
https://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/depts/elections/how-to-vote/voters-pamphlet/2014/201411-voters-pamphlet.ashx?la=en (pdf)
King County 2014 Results, November 4 general election
https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/elections/results/2014/201411.aspx
Speaking as a parent about to have a child graduate from SPS (K-12), I cordially invite you to go to hell, Lisa.
1.) WA doesn’t view kindergarten as education, just socialization.
2.) WA doesn’t fully fund full-day kindergarten, despite the ‘paramount duty’ bullshit in the state constitution.
3.) the bottom 10% of my son’s kindergarten class easily took 90+% of the teacher’s effort.
Kids in my son’s cohort ranged from beginning readers and kids who could count well past 10 to (native English-speaking) kids who didn’t know the alphabet or how to count at all. It was a totally pointless year for us, other than gaining a year of emotional maturity. Our son learned more entertaining ways to act out when bored and how to better lie to assistant principals that year, and that was about it.
So yeah: despite having only one child in SPS, and one about to start in high school at that, I voted for that levy. If another were to come up now, I (and my newly-registered-to-vote college-bound son) would vote for it, too,
” I cordially invite you to go to hell, Lisa.”
wow, such lovely communication skills for a parent….maybe you could redo kindergarten to relearn some “emotional maturity”?
Sure thing, “another feral human that just needs a little kindness and ALL of your tax dollars.”
You can go to hell, too.
Hmmmm…. I posted a lengthy response to your initial “invitational” posting last night, but it doesn’t seem to exist this morning. It might have been of interest to others as well as yourself, especially in light of the fact I was bolstering one of your talking points, at least from a teacher’s standpoint. I hope your anger issues don’t stem from not having gotten to experience the pre-K socialization experience.
My anger is with people who seem to casually dismiss the experiences of others. The “readiness gap” had a very detrimental effect on our kindergarten experience, almost to the point of us giving up on SPS entirely.
I’m also not so fond of the snide illiberal and anti-tax voices that have been dominating many of the conversations on here about many of the issues that Seattle faces. Your “velcro levies” remark seemed to put you into that camp. If that was not the case, I apologize.
My comment diverts from the actual topic of an excellent preschool program, apologies. Please correspond with the editors to read comments and create a “code of behavior”. Meanness is not OK. One way to curb these kind of comments is to give reminders and/or remove people from commenting. Another is to tell advertisers to read comments to see what they are supporting.
I didn’t like the mean comments either. I do think censoring them would be a mistake, even when the comments are derisive and ill-informed. Many people think that goverment services like this are a waste of money. It’s important to address these oppions.
Telling people to go to hell is not OK. The wallyhood staff can write a code of conduct.. if not delete comments then refuse to let people who persist with insults and meannes to post anything. Informing sponsors is another means to prevent this.
I was confused. When you talked about mean comments I assumed you were talking about Lisa’s comment. Should Lisa’s mean comment be deleted?
So you’re going to tell a bed shop that people aren’t being liberal enough/nice enough/whatever enough on a pokey little community website where the same 10 people basically comment on everything? And days go by with nothing new posted? “Drop the mattress, boss! You gotta read THIS!” LOL OK…
Well, bless your heart, wildnwonderful.
People like Lisa regularly call people even vaguely like me communists and socialists because the only constitutional means that Washington allows for addressing social inequities is through property taxes, sales taxes, and levies. Maybe a bond issue if you’re a particularly deserving cause like a stadium.
People like Swampy regularly call homeless people vermin because… I don’t know. They weren’t held enough as children? I can’t say.
Which brings me to you. You object to… my tone.
On the scale of things, I think I’m doing okay.
Thanks, Nancy!