New 4K Programs at District Five Making Positive Impact

Melanie Cohen paused and looked over her shoulder, resting one hand on the door knob before entering what had been uncharted territory at River Springs Elementary School – uncharted until this school year.  

“Welcome to 4K,” Principal Cohen said, opening the door to the school’s first full-day, needs-based 4-year-old kindergarten class. In the room, 20 energetic students actively engage in self-guided, paired “mini lessons” on early science, literacy and other subject concepts: In one area of the class, a student is absorbed in testing the pull of two magnets. Two more students across the room are building a lofty structure out of wooden blocks, while at the SMART board more 4-year-olds wait patiently enough to try their hand at letters and spelling their names.

“It looks like they’re playing, but these are real lessons. Children learn through play and we’re building a curiosity and love for learning that will help put these students on the course to academic success,” Cohen said.

Amid renewed focus nationwide on the value of 4K, the Lexington-Richland School District Five Board of Trustees approved a plan in June to provide seven additional needs-based 4-year-old kindergarten programs to several schools in the district. Educators say the program is aimed at serving students at-risk of not meeting future grade level requirements due to several factors, including: socio-economic level, family status and disabilities. District Five already had a total of nine needs-based 4K programs before the Board’s approval. With the additional seven classes this year, there is at least one 4K program in 10 of the district’s 12 elementary schools. One tuition-based program is available to any student living in District Five.

“These are not daycares,” said Davida Price, District Five Coordinator of Early Intervention Services. “These programs provide standard-based curriculum, ability-based instruction, certified teachers, special area classes and many other resources. For these students, it’s giving them access to the early learning skills they need to have the best chance at academic success.”  

At H. E. Corley Elementary School, which added an additional 4K class this year for a total of three, teachers like Mary T. Devine say they already have seen the difference the program is making. 

“For a lot of them, this is the first school experience, and we know and have already seen the benefits both immediate and long term,” said Devine, who’s been teaching 4K for 16 years. “It’s been real interesting because we’re able to follow these students and see the benefits later for them. It’s the routines of school, early math and reading …We know it has made a difference.”

District Five’s 4K programs give families access to a wide variety of school resources from reading and math interventionists to speech therapists and guidance counselors, and parents realize these benefits, Price said.

“We filled all of the slots we had this year, and I still receive calls daily from parents who would like to participate and get their child in our 4K program. So even with the 16 programs, with 20 students in all of the classrooms, we still have a need for more,” she said. “As a district, we are looking at the future, and early childhood programs help decrease dropout rates and increase college and career readiness… we’re looking at the same goal we’ve always had: ensuring that all students have access to quality education. And for some of our students, that starts in 4K.” 

Though just a few weeks into the new school year, River Springs Elementary students in Susan Potter’s 4K class already know the end-of-the-day routine of cleaning and reorganizing the classroom. They stack blocks and clear areas as neatly as they can, put books back in their place and gather their belongings to prepare to dismiss.

“Oh, they learn the routines pretty fast. You would be surprised,” said Potter, a veteran teacher who has taught kindergarten. “Not only routines, they are learning too through hands-on exploratory play and just being in the classroom. I’ve seen their improvement everyday. They are ready to learn, and we are ready and excited to teach them.”