DISD Pre-K students
SPONSORED POST: If you knew your child was less likely to drop out of school, less likely to become a teen parent, and less likely to be arrested for a violent crime if they attended pre-k, wouldn’t you make sure you enrolled them in a preschool program today?
In April, that‘s what many parents will do during the annual pre-k enrollment period. This single move will place their students a step ahead of those real, yet daunting statistics.
Dallas ISD’s Early Childhood and Community Program gives our youngest students an opportunity to engage and learn early. Research shows that 90 percent of a child’s brain development occurs in their first five years, which further emphasizes the need for our pre-k expansion across the district.
Pre-k students enrolled in Dallas ISD’s early childhood program are 3.5 times more likely to be ready for kindergarten than students who are not in a quality early childhood program. There are additional advantages children receive when enrolled in the district’s early childhood program:
- Small class size ratio
- Quality/effective teachers in every classroom
- Pre-k specialist assigned to every 15 teachers to provide ongoing support
Among the early childhood education challenges facing the district is a shortage of available seats in areas where children who are eligible for the program live. Currently, Dallas ISD’s Early Childhood Department estimates there are around 4,000 eligible 4-year-old students who Dallas ISD is not serving. This means that a sizable group of our youngest students are missing one of the main benefits of a preschool education—starting kindergarten prepared and ready to achieve.
This is why our pre-k expansion throughout the district is key. If we don’t reach children in that window of opportunity when their minds undergo the largest development potential, these students may never learn at that rate again.
Currently, 38 percent of our kids start kindergarten on track for success, which means more than 60 percent of kids are already behind the curve. Don’t let your child miss out on this essential year of growth. I encourage every parent to take advantage of Dallas ISD’s pre-k program.
The enrollment period to register a student is April 4-8 at participating Dallas ISD elementary schools. For more information, visit: http://www.prekdallas.org/en/homepage/
