LA 4 programs giving 4-year olds an early foundation

Tri-Parish public elementary schools doubled their 4-year-old enrollment this year, with the LA 4 Pre-Kindergarten Program. School administrators agree that the need for the program still exceeds the available space.

“The schools qualified for the program based on the number of students receiving free and reduced lunch just like the other schools in the program,” said Terrebonne’s LA 4 coordinator Carol Davis. “The need was out there, so we enrolled more students.”

This year, Terrebonne enrolled more than 900 students in its LA 4 Program; more than 90 students remain on a waiting list.

The district received over $2 million to start the program, and will received additional funds this October because the school enrolled more students than it initially budgeted for, Davis said.

Terrebonne combined the money received from LA 4 with Title I and other school-related funds to supplement the students served until the additional monies arrive.

“We are thrilled about the program,” Davis said. “It is positive and the kids are loving it. The parents are becoming more involved, too.”

Prior to the creation of the state pre-K program, the Terrebonne Parish school district had 390 students in its regular early childhood education program. It too was funded through state and federal grants.

According to Davis, the only problem facing the school now is not having enough space to accommodate the parish’s LA 4 enrollees.

“Right now, space is a big problem for the parish,” Davis said. “All of the schools are overcrowded, so that puts limitation on the program. We want to service all the four-years-old in the parish but we can’t, maybe we will have more adequate space next year.”

The Lafourche Parish school district has 867 students enrolled in its LA 4 Program. However, the district only received LA 4 funding for 534 students.

The others are covered through a collaboration of Title I, LA 4, 8(g) and the general fund, said Pam Folse, program coordinator.

“We were only able to offer 24 pre-k classes last year due to limited funding,” she said. “Lafourche applied for the LA 4 grant in January of 2007.”

The grant was approved in July 2007. “In our application, we indicated that Lafourche Parish had the capacity to expand its current programming and offer universal pre-K classes,” Folse said.

To expand the program, Folse said more money was needed to pay teachers and paraprofessionals. The original application projected opening 32 additional classes. The projected budget for the program was $3.2 million.

However, the district only needed 25 new classes, which opened at the start of the school year. The adjusted budget for the additional LA 4 classes is $2.6 million, Folse explained.

The Lafourche school district is also slated to receive additional LA 4 grant monies this month.

“Administrators and teachers have adjusted quite well to having the additional students on campus,” Folse said. “Schedules, bus routes, lunch times and an abundance of other adjustments have been made in anticipation of our additional pre-K students.”

The program has been well received by parents as well, she said.

St. Mary Parish elementary schools have the least number of students in LA 4, with 154 four-year-olds. The parish received $813,450 for its program.

According to Mary Ann Hebert, St. Mary’s LA 4 coordinator and supervisor of Elementary Schools, the school district capped the program at 154 students because of limited space in the grade schools.

“The administration is excited about the program because we are servicing the part of the community which needs us the most, four-year-olds that will eventually enter the school system as kindergartners,” Hebert said.

Instructional Specialist Suzanne Bergeron said the school has been getting positive feedback from the elementary school administrators and the community.

“We know we are not serving the entire realm of 4-year-olds in the community, but the administration sees the value and advantages of the program,” she said.

The St. Mary early childhood program shares a close-knit relationship with the parish’s head-start programs as well as the private preschool programs, Hebert noted.

“We established the La. 4 Program in St. Mary because the need was there,” she said.

With the expansion of the LA 4 program, the Tri-parish school systems purchased the DLM Pre-K Express Program, which gives teachers the framework for meeting the state’s Comprehensive Curriculum and the ECERS (Early Childhood Evaluation Rating Scale) Program.

Extensive in-services were conducted during the summer to prepare teachers and paraprofessionals for implementation of the new program.

According to Folse, the Lafourche school system’s research has proven that early interventions, such as pre-kindergarten, provide students with the needed pre-literacy skills.

The LA 4 Program is designed to provide universal access to high quality, developmental services to 4-year-old children, who will be eligible to enter public school kindergarten the following year.

The Louisiana Educational Assessment provides a complete educational program directed toward the development of cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and communication skills consistent with the needs and capabilities of the each child.

Four-year-old Sky’Ler Antione receives assistance from her pre-Kindergarten teacher Trisha Matthews during one-on-one time. Southdown Elementary School is one of 21 Terrebonne Parish grade schools with LA 4 classes. The LA 4 program is geared toward readying students with needed skills before they start kindergarten. * Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN