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| Any Windham or Raymond child who will be 5 years old by Oct. 15 is now eligible to register for kindergarten classes at either Raymond Elementary School or Windham Primary School. COURTESY PHOTO |
The current school year ends in June, but parents and teachers of next year’s
incoming class are already starting to plan for September. For the 4- and 5-year-olds
of Windham and Raymond, it’s time to start thinking about kindergarten.
Any Windham or Raymond child who will be 5 years old by Oct. 15 is now eligible
to register for kindergarten classes at either Raymond Elementary School or
Windham Primary School.
“The best thing for parents to do is to go to the
RSU14.org website. There’s a registration link that will walk you through the
process,” said Beth Peavey, Raymond Elementary School principal.
To register, parents will need to provide their child’s birth certificate, proof of residency, and immunization records as well as their contact information.
In the past, kindergarten-bound students traveled to their future elementary schools for an in-person screening following their registration. This year, however, things are different.
“When our students are all registered, parents will receive a phone call with questions,” Peavey said. “We’ll do an over-the-phone screening with parents in late April or May, and then a full in-person screening would be by invitation only.”
Dr. Kyle Rhoads, Windham Primary School principal, said that the remote kindergarten screening process was even more complicated this past year during the school shutdown resulting from the pandemic. Despite school closures, Rhoads said that he was able to get a dedicated team of staff members together to make phone calls to the families of future kindergarteners over the course of several days.
“We were very successful with that last year,
which says a lot about the strength of our team,” Rhoads said. “But I think
it’s going to be a bit easier this year than it was last year.”
Both Raymond and Windham schools are expecting a normal number of incoming
kindergarteners this fall. A typical incoming class for Raymond is about 45
students, while Windham Primary School usually has between 180 and 220
registered incoming kindergarten students.
“We’re right on track for our typical class size,”
said Rhoads.
Because of the pandemic, all RSU 14 schools are following a hybrid schedule
this year. Windham and Raymond students, from pre-kindergarten to high school
seniors, are attending school in person two days a week and working remotely
three days a week. The school district provides iPads to kindergarteners for
Zoom classes and remote work, and laptops to older students. RSU14 also offers
a fully remote kindergarten option.
While it’s too early to say how the ongoing pandemic will affect RSU 14’s
school schedule come September, teams at both Raymond Elementary School and
Windham Primary School are preparing to welcome their new students.
“We’ll do our best to make the coming school year
as normal as possible,” Rhoads said. “I’m confident our awesome team will be
ready to welcome our next crop of young learners.”
Those incoming kindergarten students will have a full year of learning waiting
for them.
“In kindergarten we work on letter sounds, forming
words, and beginning to read,” Peavey said.
Both RES and WPS use a reading program called
Jolly Phonics.
“That’s a kinesthetic program, so there’s a motion
for every letter sound,” Peavey said. “It helps them to remember their letter
sounds much easier. The kids are really picking it up, and we’re noticing a
difference in their writing.”
Reading and writing aren’t the only skills these little scholars will acquire
in their first year of school. The math program for kindergarten focuses on
counting to 100 by ones, adding and subtracting within five, and also learning
shapes. These lessons go beyond identifying shapes to include mathematical
concepts like length, weight, and capacity.
“The math program is really focused on learning
the basic skills and then their application,” Peavey said. “So students learn
the basics of adding and subtracting, and then they work on things like word
problems.”
Both elementary schools are also focusing on social and emotional health,
beginning with the youngest learners.
“Yes, they’re going to learn the foundational
academic skills, Rhoads said. “And the teachers also understand the importance
of spending time getting to know each other, to give their students the skills
to navigate the social and emotional side of school as well. They need to have
those connections and relationships in order to do their best learning and to
enjoy school. Our kindergarten learners get a really well-rounded curriculum.
It addresses not only their academic needs but also their need to be a good
thinker, to be a good citizen, and their social emotional needs as well.”
For both Raymond Elementary School and Windham Primary School, the primary
focus of kindergarten hasn’t changed even as COVID-19 has upended almost
everything else.
As Dr. Rhoads explained, the goal of kindergarten
is simple: “We want them to love learning.”
If you are planning to enroll or considering enrolling your child in
kindergarten, please visit https://wps.rsu14.org/ for kindergarten registration information. <
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