The Early Kindergarten Program

Project H.E.L.P. is based on the premise of early academic interventions, and within the purview of the public schools - the earliest point when an intervention can be initiated, is when parents enroll their children for Kindergarten, a process which begins in April of each year.  With that in mind, the Project H.E.L.P. Board and staff created a new program component called the Early Kindergarten Program - which identifies incoming Kinder students with the most pressing school readiness needs, which usually includes those students who have had no formal pre-school experience, and are also second language learners.

Students enrolled in the Early Kindergarten Program begin their public school experience in the summer preceding their Kindergarten year - with a four week Summer Term taught by the Kinder teacher who will also be their teacher in the regular school year.  The Summer Term provides these students with the opportunity to become familiar with their school and classroom, develop cognitive and motor skils, develop English language skills, become comfortable with the classrom procedures and routines of their teachers, and to learn the social expectations of Kindergarten. 

For teachers and school administrators, the Early Kindergarten Program provides a powerful opportunity for individual student assessment before the regular school year begins, which can be utilized to target those students who will need extra assistance once the school year begins, and to identify those students who may be starting their public school career with undiagnosed learning handicaps.

For parents the Early Kindergarten Program provides a series of parent workshops which introduces parents to the expectations of Kindergarten, and provides them with specific activities they can do at home to support the efforts of the classroom teacher.  Building this partnership does much to ensure that all students get their public school careers off to a strong start, and that all students are positioned for long term school success.

For students identified during the Summer Term as likely needing additional assistance during the school year to work to Kindergarten standards - additional services are provided through the auspices of the School Year Extension, which offers before school instruction, and through the highly accessible "School-Based" Literacy Center, which targets small groups of students with individualized and prescriptive instruction before school, after school, and during the school day.

'''As soon as students are enrolled, there is data available which can be analyzed, and based on that analysis, those students identified as having school readiness needs, are offered a Pre-Kindergarten opportunity during the summer months preceding their entry into Kindergarten,