Central Valley Educators Prepare to Implement Transitional Kindergarten at Fresno Summit
02.28.2012 | Fresno County Office of Education
For Immediate Release
February 28, 2012
For more information:
Armen Bacon, (559) 265-3012, ABacon@fcoe.org
Jennifer Kern, (415) 277-6975, jkern@prandcompany.com
Deborah Kong, (415) 385-4288, dkong@preschoolcalifornia.org
Central Valley Educators Prepare to Implement Transitional Kindergarten at Fresno Summit
Educators prepare to expand transitional kindergarten classrooms throughout Fresno County
Fresno, CA – February 28 – Nearly 200 educators from across the Central Valley gathered today in Fresno to prepare to implement transitional kindergarten in their schools and celebrate the proven benefits of transitional kindergarten at the second annual Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit hosted by the Fresno County Office of Education.
“I strongly support the full implementation of transitional kindergarten, which prepares children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed, said Larry L. Powell, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. “We’ve seen first-hand how transitional kindergarten has improved students’ educational achievements in schools throughout Fresno County and all our ‘young fives’ deserve the opportunity to participate in this vital educational program.”
The second annual Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit advances the Fresno County Office of Education’s strong support for the widespread implementation of transitional kindergarten. At the Summit, Central Valley kindergarten teachers, principals and school district officials learned about model transitional kindergarten programs and the latest research, best practices and lessons learned from existing programs to enhance the successful expansion of transitional kindergarten.
Fresno County currently has fifteen successful transitional kindergarten classrooms in operation across twelve school districts, including Clovis Unified, Coalinga-Huron, Firebaugh-Las Deltas, Fowler Unified, Fresno Unified, Golden Plains Unified, Kerman Unified, Kings Canyon Unified, Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District, Monroe Elementary, Raisin City Elementary and Washington Unified.
"Transitional kindergarten lays a strong foundation for student success, serving as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten and providing student with the gift of time," said Kendra Rogers, Executive Director of First 5 Fresno County. "We're delighted to help schools across Fresno County implement transitional kindergarten."
The summit featured the debut of a two-minute video demonstrating the difference between a lesson plan for preschool, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students as well as a model transitional kindergarten classroom, next to contrasting model preschool and model kindergarten classrooms.
"It’s been a thrill to see our transitional kindergarten graduates enter kindergarten with confidence, and fully prepared to perform at or above grade level,” said Ying Lee, a transitional kindergarten teacher at Washington School who was honored with the Kingsburg Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year Award. “Transitional Kindergarten makes a tremendous difference in a child’s education and no child should be denied this opportunity."
Members of the media also observed a transitional kindergarten classroom in action at Sun Empire Elementary in Kerman Unified School District.
"We've hit the ground running this year with the launch of our first transitional kindergarten classroom, where students are making great strides and parents are delighted with their children’s progress,” said Albert De Leon, Sun Empire Elementary principal.
Educators also learned about the status of statewide implementation of transitional kindergarten at a legislative briefing during the Summit.
“We’ve been delighted with the Fresno County Office of Education’s leadership on transitional kindergarten implementation,” said Preschool California President Catherine Atkin. "Fresno’s professional learning community is providing exemplary support for teachers and administrators alike and it shows in the success in classrooms.”
Governor Brown’s recent budget proposal to eliminate transitional kindergarten could deny up to 125,000 California children the right to attend public school in the fall. Fully implementing transitional kindergarten is in accordance with The Kindergarten Readiness Act – the California law that mandates changing the kindergarten entry date so that children enter school at age 5 and establishing transitional kindergarten, a developmentally-appropriate grade to serve those younger students with birthdays between September and December.
The governor’s budget proposal is at odds with The Kindergarten Readiness Act, which remains the law and could impact 1 out of 4 kindergarten-aged students.
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About the Fresno County Office of Education
The Fresno County Office of Education (FCOE) is the intermediary agency between the California Department of Education and the thirty-two school districts in Fresno County. FCOE supports the widespread implementation of transitional kindergarten in the county through promoting best practices for transitional kindergarten implementation.
Learn more about the 2012 “Leap into TK” Summit at: http://ww2.fcoe.org/?n=1033
For more information on the Save Kindergarten Campaign visit: www.earlyedgecalifornia.org/savekindergarten.org
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