By April Taylor
Published: March 6, 2008

Local kindergarten teachers are reporting a drastic gap in skill levels among many of their young students. Greene County Public Schools and a number of daycare providers have partnered in an effort to ease the disparities.

The aim of GAPP, Greene Area Preschool Partnership, is to “level the playing field” for as many students as possible as they prepare for kindergarten, says Greene’s Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Dave Jeck. (Jeck becomes School Superintendent in July.)

“Standards (in kindergarten) continue to get raised, and if we’re not addressing the issue, it is not going to go away,” adds Jeck. “ It’s going to get worse.”

Angie Miller, director of Greene County Child Care, agrees.

“ Kindergarten is different these days,” says Miller. “You have to know so many things before you get into kindergarten. We can partner and get the word out that kids need to be in a good preschool study before the age of four, not just watching television.”

Research shows that roughly 90 percent of brain development takes place before the age of five years old.

Among reported findings:
• Children who attend pre-school are more likely to finish school and less likely to commit crimes

• Children who participate in early childhood education spent 0.7 less years in special education compared to students who did not participate.

• And participants in high quality early childhood education programs are less likely to be the victims of child abuse or neglect.

But not all parents can afford pre-school for their children and not all children qualified for at-risk programs are getting in, due to lack of available space, says Mary Taylor, owner and operator of Small Steps in Ruckersville.

One critical goal of the partnership is to reach out to the large number of parents who aren’t bringing their kids to pre-school, due to costs and other reasons.

The group is looking at ways to provide support for youngsters who do not attend preschool, such as parenting workshops or by delivering reading books to homes.

GAPP also hopes to provide staff development opportunities for teachers and to provide and share resources when possible.

The new partnership includes the following participants: Greene County Child Care; Small Steps; Kid’s Corner; Bear, Etc.; Skyline Cap Head Start; Smart Start Day Care; Greene County Primary School Preschool Program; and Haney-Ripley Incorporated.

The group met for the first time back in January.

These local efforts piggyback a state initiative announced by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine that calls for the expansion of preschool, particularly among for four-years olds.

Jeck says the new partnership puts Greene “ahead of the game” and in prime position for possible funding if Kaine’s initiative is funded.

“If this initiative by the Governor becomes reality and is funded, we hope to hold our project up as a model. This program will make a difference.”

Jeck says GAPP plans to monitor its progress in several ways: through the number of providers in the partnership, the number of additional kids reading “in kind” as reported by teachers, and through the number of kids reading at grade level in the later elementary grades.

One good outcome of the partnership, adds Miller, would be that the schools would be able to help the local daycare centers in “testing the students to make sure that they are on target to be able to enter kindergarten.”

It is a critical issue, agrees Taylor.

We need to prepare children so they are ready to be learners, so that they are ready in the public school,” says Mary Taylor. “Learning to read and write begins before school.”