One-derful

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
Progress 2011

The New Castle school system’s pre-kindergarten classes introduce youngsters to early learning.

The program has generated success during its seven years in operation.

The district’s proposed kindergarten through second-grade facility — the Harry W. Lockley Early Learning Center — is expected to bolster those efforts.

“The stuff we do in here is what we did in kindergarten when I was younger,” said April Lemmon, a teacher at the Croton Pre-Kindergarten Center and a Ne-Ca-Hi graduate.

“You can really tell the kids that come from a Pre-K program as opposed to day care because they learn a lot,” she said.

“When they go to kindergarten, they’re not lost.”

Terence P. Meehan, administrative assistant to Superintendent George Gabriel, said the center is an important piece of the early learning initiative.

“I see this every day what these kids can do. The sentences they can complete. The way they can communicate,” he said.

“If we don’t build on it, it’s a loss of time and effort. We come out of the gate with a head start, but what we’re doing in New Castle is very progressive.”

The center will also reverse the practice of separating students into neighborhood schools, Meehan said.

“The kids would come here and start friendships that were invaluable,” he said. “Then they’d all go to Lockley for kindergarten. Then all of the sudden they would split up into three (John F. Kennedy, West Side and Thaddeus Stevens primary centers).

“Now we’re one unified district. I think that word ‘unified’ is critical. That will be a major benefit of the early learning center.”

Familiarity is a byproduct of unity, Meehan said.

“There’s a lot to say about familiarity. Some people say familiarity breeds contempt and they might be correct in some situations.

“For an early learner, familiarity is an ingredient to success.”

Starting with the pre-kindergarten students, reading skills are emphasized.

“When they go to kindergarten, they’re going to read,” Lemmon said.

Meehan said students that have had that extra year have consistently been academic leaders within their grade level. District students receive structured reading instruction through seventh grade.

“With all this data from all these years of information, we hope we can identify kids’ strengths and weaknesses.

Meehan said the early learning approach isn’t new in the educational community.
“I’ve never worked in a K-2 center, but I believe in it based on what I see from our early learners in the Pre-K program.”

Lemmon said the changes are tremendous when comparing students from the beginning to the end of the school year.

“When you teach them to make the first letter of their name ... just the look on their faces when you teach them as something as simple as that is priceless.”