Mexico To Study A Transitional Kindergarten Program

by Submitted article | March 15, 2018 7:39 am

MEXICO – The Mexico Academy and Central School District is pleased to announce that a study is under way to consider the creation of a non-traditional pathway to kindergarten.

MACS will consider a new program for the 2018-19 school year to help some children who are four or five years old ease into their public school experience.

Mary Beth Horn, MACS assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the program is designed to address the needs of students who are not yet ready for the rigor of a traditional kindergarten classroom.

This program will serve as a bridge between Universal Pre-Kindergarten and kindergarten for those students who need an additional year to grow, both socially and academically, before they begin kindergarten.

The need for such a study, Horn said, came about after district administrators reviewed data reflective of academic success of those children who attend the MACS UPK program versus those who do not.

She said while tracking progress through the elementary levels (grades kindergarten through four), the district found that early literacy and math STAR testing results were consistently lower for children who did not participate in UPK.

MACS district officials asked themselves how they could catch students who don’t attend the half-day UPK program at New Haven, Mexico or Palermo elementary schools to ensure they are fully-prepared for kindergarten.

From there, they developed a task force, comprised of parents, teachers and district officials to address these concerns.

A plan will be presented to the MACS Board of Education during its 6 p.m. March 22 meeting at the district office.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/community/mexico-to-study-a-transitional-kindergarten-program/

---