Pre-kindergarten will be reinstituted in the City of Poughkeepsie school district this year, with classes expected to begin this month. The previous program, a state-supported “targeted” program, required the district to adhere to strict eligibility guidelines – guidelines that the new “universal” program does not entail. The goal? To make quality pre-kindergarten programs accessible to all 4-year-olds.
“There is definitely a feeling that the pre-kindergarten program contributes to a student’s success in the future,” said Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Karen Markeloff.
Markeloff, along with a pre-kindergarten advisory committee, reviewed applications from interested facilities, made site visits and chose candidates.
There are currently 34 new spaces to fill, and approximately 60 perspective students awaiting enrollment. A lottery, held earlier this week, determined who would be placed in the program.
“Enrollment is wide-open,” said Markeloff, “We’re not using any criteria other than gender, in an effort to keep the program balanced.”
The universal pre-kindergarten program is expected to be up and running by mid-February, with plans to expand in the fall.
Universal pre-kindergarten isn’t the only change the district will be undergoing this year. On Jan. 23, the board also approved a reconfiguration of the district’s elementary schools.
In a written address to the board, Superintendent Dr. Laval Wilson explained: “To improve and enhance all components of our schools, it is my belief that the district must implement a coherent and consistent elementary, middle school and high school program.”
There are six elementary schools in the Poughkeepsie school district; three are kindergarten through fifth grade, one is kindergarten through third grade, one is kindergarten through six grade, and one is fourth grade through sixth grade.
Poughkeepsie Middle School includes grades six through eight, but as a result of the district’s current configuration, sixth graders at W.W. Smith Humanities Magnet and Krieger schools are missing out on the America’s Choice Whole School Reform Model, implemented for the second consecutive year at the middle school. According to Wilson, the model utilizes some of the nation’s best instructional practices for educating students.
“It is my belief,” said Wilson, “that all Poughkeepsie sixth graders should receive the same type of instructional program.”
The relocation of the sixth graders in Krieger and Smith schools will take place in September 2008, while the realignment of Morse and Smith schools into kindergarten through fifth grade schools will take place in September of 2009.
Furthermore, all students who entered ninth grade in September 2007 are part of a ninth grade academy. Throughout the current school year, theme-focused career academies will be developed for implementation in the coming September 2008 school year.
Finally, attending the meeting was Kevin Sheldon, the district’s new assistant superintendent for business. The newly created position will allow Sheldon to perform the duties of the of district’s business manager Jeff Baker, but with more oversight.
“The scope of the position is significantly broader,” said Wilson, “and the responsibilities are greater.”
Baker has been suspended with pay since last summer when an audit from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli showed $1.2 million in questionable spending by the district while Wilson’s predecessor, Superintendent Robert Watson, held the position.
Watson left the district in 2006, and Baker denies any wrongdoing. While Baker fights his case, the school is participating in removal procedures of the civil service position.
“Rather than thinking in terms of hiring a ‘substitute’ manager, we created an entirely new position,” said Wilson.
Sheldon, who previously held a similar position at Katonah-Lewisboro school district in Westchester County, is a Houghton College and SUNY Albany graduate. He lives in Highland with his family.
The next City of Poughkeepsie Board of Education meeting is on Feb. 13 at Poughkeepsie Middle School.