Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit Purpose Letter
November 8, 2011
Welcome to the first statewide Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit! We are very excited to be hosting this event along with key education institutions in California including the California Teachers Association (CTA), California Federation of Teachers (CFT), California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA), California School Boards Association (CSBA), Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California Kindergarten Association (CKA).
The Kindergarten Readiness Act, authored by Senator Joe Simitian and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, and signed into law in 2010 by Gov. Schwarzenegger, created transitional kindergarten. It is the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students who are born between September and December. It also changed the kindergarten entry date from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1, so children enter kindergarten at age 5.
Transitional kindergarten, which will be implemented in more than 700 school districts throughout California next fall, is a historic opportunity to lay the foundation for proficiency in the early elementary years and help our state build a more seamless education system for children from birth to age 8.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. Transitional kindergarten provides educators an opportunity to bridge the path from preschool to K-12 and give our kids a head start that will yield huge payoffs in future academic success. Our hope is that the Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit will provide each of you with critical information on promising practices, strategies and resources that will assist you in implementing transitional kindergarten in a high-quality and efficient way.
Thank you for your participation and for making transitional kindergarten a success!
Sincerely,
Catherine Atkin, President
Preschool California
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