Back-to-school preparations for school districts in Benton and Washington counties include making sure pre-kindergarten classes are ready.
Openings vary by school district for free classes for children who are 3, 4 and 5, though most families must meet income guidelines to be eligible, school officials said. The limit for many classrooms is a maximum annual income of $48,600 for a family of four. The maximum annual income for a family to qualify varies by the size of the family.
Child care in Arkansas
• 77,333: Number of children in two-parent families, with both parents in the labor force.
• 65,328: Number of children in single-parent families, with a parent in the labor force.
• 142,661: Total children younger than 6 potentially needing child care.
• $4,695 to $4,995: Average annual cost for full-time care in a family child care home or a center for a 4-year-old child
Source: Child Care Aware of America
The new school year started Thursday for Eastside Elementary School's kindergarten through fifth grade students, with the first day for the campus's class of 20 4-year-olds coming Monday, said Cathy Davis, director of early childhood education for Rogers School District. Eastside is on a different calendar than the rest of the Rogers district.
Enrollment for the other 16 classes of pre-kindergarten in Rogers will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the Rogers Pre-Kindergarten Center, Davis said. The first day for those children will be Aug. 22. The district has six classes at the Rogers Pre-Kindergarten Center and 10 classes at Elza R. Tucker Elementary School, in addition to the class at Eastside. The classes are only for 4-year-olds.
Davis already has 286 children registered, leaving space for 54 more 4-year-olds, she said. She expects to be at capacity by the end of next week.
Families often begin lining up during the early morning hours on the first day of enrollment, Davis said. During spring enrollment, Davis arrived at 6:30 a.m. one morning to find about 40 families waiting outside the Pre-kindergarten Center. She learned five families had arrived as early as 2:30 a.m. that morning, she said.
Parents know a spot in the pre-kindergarten program means their children will receive free educational services during the school year, along with breakfast, lunch, snacks and school supplies, Davis said.
Parents must provide transportation to and from pre-kindergarten classes for children enrolled in the district's center based program, she said. The district also has a home-based preschool program for up to 84 3- and 4-year-olds.
Calls from families seeking child care tend to increase in August as families gear up for the new school year, said Carolene Thornton, director of Child Care Aware of Northwest Arkansas, a nonprofit that assists parents in finding child care close to their homes or work places.
"We have a large number of our families looking for child care, looking for free or reduced rates," she said.
Paid child care, which averages from $4,695 to $4,995 per year per child in Arkansas, takes a significant chunk out of a family's budget, especially for a low-income family, Thornton said.
Openings across Springdale
Springdale schools with openings for pre-kindergarten are Elmdale Elementary, Monitor Elementary, Shaw Elementary and at the new Early Childhood Center at Linda Childers Knapp Elementary, said Darlene Fleeman, the district's director of early childhood education.The district also has space at J.O. Kelly Middle School, Southwest Junior High and at the district's Early Childhood Center near downtown Springdale.
Springdale School District still had space for 192 children as of Friday, the last day of scheduled registration for pre-kindergarten, but enrollment will continue until all spaces are full, Fleeman said. Children eligible for the program must be 3 or 4 years old by Aug. 1 to enroll. Their families also must meet income guidelines.
Parents who want to enroll their child need to provide the following documentation: the child's birth certificate, a current immunization record, the child's Social Security card and records from a physical medical exam. Parents also must provide proof of income from the past 30 days, such as check stubs or a 2015 tax return. Other suggested documents, if applicable, are the child's ARKids First insurance card and the family's food stamp number.
Teachers spend lots of time on nursery rhymes and songs. They read six books a day to the children, Fleeman said. Children who enter at age 3 often leave after two years with the ability to read easy picture books, she said.
"The first month or so we work really hard on social skills and on routines," Fleeman said.
Limited space in Greenland, Bentonville
Greenland School District has four openings for children ages 3 to 5, said Alan Barton, principal of Greenland Elementary School and the district's preschool director. The other 36 spots are full. Families can be placed on a waiting list if the program reaches its maximum enrollment.
The preschool is entering its third year, and Barton has noticed the impact it has, he said. The children experience what it's like to go to school before they start kindergarten. The program also has brought in more parent volunteers.
In Bentonville, 15 openings were available at the Building Bridges at Wildcat Way for children who will be 3 or 4 years old by Aug. 1, said Deb Kee, director of early childhood for the district. The other two Building Bridges programs are full.
Another 12 spots remained Friday for pre-kindergarten at Tennie Russell Primary School, said Tammy Hanna, the registrar. Priority is given to children turning 4 on or before Aug. 1, and 3-year-olds are accepted as space allows.
NW News on 07/31/2016