Educators view prekindergarten programs as important in boosting children's social and emotional skills and laying the foundations for academic success. For the 2021-22 school year, at least four local districts are planning to return or ramp up their pre-K offerings into full-day programs.
Superintendent Jeff Nichols of the Sag Harbor schools confirmed yesterday that this will be the first time the district has offered full days to its youngest students.
In 2020, the district finished work on the Sag Harbor Learning Center, formerly the Stella Maris Regional School, as a new hub for early-childhood education. This year, in light of the pandemic, the building houses a half-day prekindergarten program as well as regular kindergarten classes.
"The research tells us that the earlier you have younger students in school, there are more long-term benefits for their education. The fact that we can offer it is a good thing," Mr. Nichols said. "That building was not only thoroughly renovated, but a lot of the spaces are physically geared toward younger students, so it's nice."
The district's original plan for the Learning Center was to lease space to a local day care business. Mr. Nichols said that is no longer in the cards. The original plan also included renting space to outside groups and community members, also for a fee; that too is now on hold.
"When you lease the facility, that changes your debt payments related to how the building is utilized," the superintendent explained. "Monetarily, it's not really all that much of a gain to do that. I think that the prime consideration is that in offering the program full-day, we retain control of it 100 percent, which enables us to put forth the type of program that we think is best for the kids."
Prekindergarten enrollment is projected "to fall into an area that we can accommodate," Mr. Nichols said. "We're thankful that we have a community that supports this type of initiative. The budget's pretty reasonable this year."
In the East Hampton School District, which switched to half-day pre-K this year in light of Covid-19, Superintendent Richard Burns and Karen Kuneth, the elementary school principal, confirmed this week that full-day pre-K will return in September. The same goes for the Bridgehampton School District, which will bring back full days for both 3 and 4-year-olds after holding a fully remote version of the program this past school year, said Michael Miller, the school principal.
The Amagansett School had initially switched to half-day pre-K this year in light of the pandemic, but brought back full days starting on March 8. Maria Dorr, the principal, said this week that the full-day program will continue into the 2021-22 school year.
The Montauk School runs its own prekindergarten program. Districts in Springs, Wainscott, and Sagaponack now send pre-K students to the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center in East Hampton.