Seven months after the Daniel Boone community heard the possibility of restoring full-day kindergarten to the curriculum, two kindergarten teachers presented on Aug. 24 a new model for an “at-risk” kindergarten program.
The presentation was made at the board’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting.
Monocacy Elementary Center (MEC) kindergarten teachers Kimberly Murgitroyde and Johanna Latimer said an at-risk program would ensure that all kindergarten students progress to first grade with the necessary knowledge and skills.
Daniel Boone School Board President Richard Martino said that although the full-day program could not be implemented for the 2015-16 school year due to financial and time constraints, he wanted to “see what this is.”
“I want to see what this is, who benefits from it, how they benefit, what the cost is, and how it will be paid for,” said Martino.
The committee’s school board members said they will discuss the program and gather data between now and early 2016, with the goal of possibly implementing a three-year pilot program for 2016-17.
Murgitroyde and Latimer have each taught kindergarten for 11 years.
They said “at-risk” potentiality comes not just from poor socio-economic conditions, but also from emotional and behavioral conditions that result from a difficult home situation, challenging health conditions, and even a poor attitude.
The teachers recently determined during the district’s annual “Kindergarten Bus Ride/Meet the Teacher” event which 2015-16 kindergarten students could be “at-risk.”
The kindergarten students participated in the typical activities of writing their names, playing with Play-Doh and Legos, identifying colors, letters, and numbers, and more.
Teachers applied those results to the Brigance early childhood screening tests.
Murgitroyde and Latimer said there were nine students at MEC and four at AEC who were “severely below level.”
In addition, 21 students at MEC and eight at AEC were “below level.”
“Each child is building a brick wall, and if we can’t give them the support they need, holes are created,” said Murgitroyde. “At the Daniel Boone Middle School, we’re still trying to fill in those holes. This would give everyone a good head start. We’re giving them something extra from the beginning.”
The “extra” would be 300 versus 120 minutes of math, 300 versus 120 minutes of writing, 300 versus 180 minutes of small group reading, and 200 versus 40 minutes of encores.
All students would receive 300 minutes of whole-group ELA (English, language, and arts).
Progress would be monitored with Dibels testing three times a year, kindergarten screenings four times a year, Fountas & Pinnell reading assessments, a standards-based report card three times a year, Go Math chapter tests, as well as constant monitoring.
The cost would be dependent upon the number of students, the amount of aide support, and the addition of other encores such as gym, art, and music.
Latimer and Murgitroyde said the costs could be alleviated by potential grants as well as an additional year of instruction at the Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU).
“An ‘at-risk’ situation can be temporary or ongoing, but requires reading and math intervention in order to succeed academically,” said the teachers, adding that intervention can mean the difference between finishing school and success in finding and keeping a job.
They said a school in Albuquerque, N.M., estimated that their full-day kindergarten students had a 16-month gain over the half-day kindergarten students.
“The pilot is an excellent idea,” said committee Chairman Connor Kurtz.
“We should continue to develop this in committee, and we should have the full board vote on this for the next school year.”
Martino said the timeline is between now and next March, prior to kindergarten enrollment for 2016-17.
