Pre-K for a Full Day
The East Hampton School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to fund a full-day prekindergarten program at the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center for the 2015-16 school year.
“I think this is a historic moment, and an enormous achievement for our community,” Laura Anker, a member of the Eleanor Whitmore board, said at the meeting.
The former East Hampton Day Care Learning Center has run the district’s half-day pre-K program at its facility on Gingerbread Lane since the 1996-97 school year, with about 44 students enrolled this year in three morning classes. The resolution approved on Tuesday allows for 54 students in next year’s prekindergarten, at a rate of $8,157 per student, per year, and a total of no more than $440,475 for the 2015-16 school year.
“This is pretty monumental, to say the least,” Richard Burns, the district superintendent, said yesterday, extolling not only the educational benefits of a longer prekindergarten day, but the social and behavioral ones as well.
Because the district has been working collaboratively with the Eleanor Whitmore Center over the past year or so to reduce costs, the price for next year’s full-day program will actually be less than East Hampton is paying for this year’s half-day program, Mr. Burns said.
“We’re going from half day to full day with no increase in the budget and also working on adding transportation at no additional cost to the district,” said Christina DeSanti, a school board member who has been a big supporter of the move. “All of the research shows that kids in full-day pre-K are performing three to four months ahead of their peers who have had a half day.”
“I’m thrilled about the full-day program, and also the continuity with having the existing pre-K program be the provider is a benefit for the students because we already have a relationship with them,” Beth Doyle, principal of the John M. Marshall Elementary School, said yesterday.
The school board agreed in December to solicit bids for half and full-day programs. Of the three organizations that submitted proposals, the Eleanor Whitmore Center was the only one with a full-day plan. Long Island Head Start would have been able to accommodate 16 children in an existing half-day program at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. SCOPE Educational Services proposed half-day morning and afternoon programs for 18 children each, but would have needed the district to provide space, equipment, and other services.
“There is so much research on the benefits of having prekindergarten; a full day doubles those benefits,” Ms. Doyle said. “Also, the time to play, the social aspect, is really important too.”
This year the Eleanor Whitmore Center retooled its prekindergarten program to add an optional fee-based extended learning program in the afternoon. “It’s been nice for us because we could pilot the program as full-day this year and we’ll be using the same materials nextyear,” said Maureen Wikane, executive director of the center. “It’s been on my mind for a couple of years, so to really see this come to fruition is amazing.” The center’s staff and board “did our best to make it cost-effective, knowing how much we want to keep the program and how important it is for the children.”
Pre-K teachers from the Eleanor Whitmore Center have been collaborating with kindergarten teachers this year, the principal said, and attended the district’s professional development day, too. “Kindergarten is what first grade used to be, so prekindergarten is what kindergarten was,” making professional development and a consistency between the two all the more important, she said.
“Students have to read for comprehension by third grade,” Mr. Burns said, “and pre-K certainly should help with that.”
With Tuesday’s vote, East Hampton will join the Amagansett, Montauk, and Bridgehampton Schools in offering full-day pre-K. Programs in Montauk and Bridgehampton are for 4-year-olds; Amagansett has programs for both 3 and 4-year olds. For parents, the longer school day comes with an extra benefit. “We realized that the half-day program just didn’t make sense for working parents,” Mr. Burns said.
The Eleanor Whitmore Center offers day care and early education for children from 18 months old, as well, and it will continue to offer afternoon care for prekindergartners until 5:30 p.m., Ms. Wikane said. The school day is likely to run from 8:30 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. next year.
A prekindergarten open house will be held at the center on April 13 at 6 p.m. Pre-K registration will be on April 14 and 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the center for district residents who will be 4 on or before Dec. 1, 2015.
The Eleanor Whitmore Center sits at the edge of the John Marshall campus on land leased from the district. On Tuesday, the board also approved a 10-year extension of that lease, which was set to expire on June 30. The center owns the building and is responsible for installing and removing all improvements on the property.