Battle Ground Public Schools will launch a new preschool next September.
The program, housed at Battle Ground High School, will be modeled after the Prairie Preschool program on the Prairie High School campus, stated a news release. It will initially have space for up to 20 children.
At the Prairie program, high school students who are studying child development work with the preschool students, which include children with disabilities.
“It’s not like we’re just babysitting,” stated Prairie senior Maxine Kellum in the release. “We’re actually learning about brain development and how kids grow up.”
Christina Wood, the family and consumer science teacher at Battle Ground High School, will set up the Battle Ground Preschool program.
“The preschoolers get the benefit of some really personalized relationships and instruction and the high school students learn a lot through the experience and the curriculum as well,” Wood stated in the release. “So it’s really just a wonderful program and we’re excited to bring it here.”
The district’s career and technical education program offers a family and consumer sciences pathway that offer classes in child development.
Through the child development pathway, students are able to earn both college credit and their initial STARS child care industry certification, stated the release. As part of the lab portion of their classwork, the older students work with preschool kids, which provides the students hands-on experience in early childhood education.
“We also learn how to collect data,” stated Veronica Salazar, a senior at Prairie. “Even things about what a student does or doesn’t like. But we can use that to make sure they’re learning things at the rate they should be.”
High school students in the class are assigned to activity stations. They help preschoolers sculpt kinetic sand, use building blocks, draw, read books or run an imaginary coffee stand.
“A lot of the things we do are also educational,” Kellum said. “We might build kites, but they would also have a ‘K’ on them, so it’s not just art. They’re learning something at the same time.”
A 2018 Prairie High School graduate, Bergen Tumlinson, is now in her first year of employment at the Prairie Preschool program. Tumlinson works as a special education assistant.
Battle Ground Preschool will initially offer morning sessions from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Battle Ground High School.
Families who want to learn more about the program can attend an open house from 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13. It will be held in room A6 and is accessible from the northwest side of the school along Stadium Way.
The registration fee for the new preschool program is $60 and tuition is $165 a month. Families who qualify for free and reduced meals can apply for a reduced monthly rate, stated the release.
If the demand is high enough, Wood said the program could eventually expand to include afternoon sessions.
Preschool students must have a current immunization record on file before they attend classes. They also must be potty trained and can’t wear pull-ups. The high school students will not accompany children into the restroom, stated the release.
Parents will be responsible for transportation to and from the preschool.
To learn more, go online to battlegroundps.org/preschool-and-daycare.
