“We’re addressing the procedural issues, too,” Sowers added, “like walking down the hall correctly, correct pencil grip, bus and car-rider procedures, interacting in the classroom with us and with each other, going ahead and getting a jumpstart in creating the classroom family.”Ĭonsequently, almost everything the students do, from eating breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria – one of the sites of LCPS’s Summer Feeding Program – to riding the school bus, is part of their instruction.Įach year, La Grange enrolls about 80 kindergarten students. “A lot of these children have never had the opportunity to go to pre-K or pre-school so it’s more or less an introduction.” “We offer reading and writing activities, but there’s a lot of socialization, too,” Pierce said. “We’re trying to level the playing field so when they come in they’re not too far behind compared to those children who come in already knowing how to count to 10 and knowing their colors or whatever.,” said La Grange principal Lorene Bell, who pioneered the JumpStart concept four years ago as principal at Northeast Elementary School in Kinston. Typically, JumpStart students were not part of a pre-kindergarten program and trail other incoming kindergartners who completed pre-K at La Grange or came through Head Start or other pre-school programs. Plus, we have materials to send home to parents to give them some tips on things to work on to keep that momentum going.” This gives us some insight into where the children begin, their strengths and weaknesses, their personalities, and it also allows us to share information if they are in another teacher’s classroom. “It’s a jumpstart for the teachers and the parents. “It’s not just a jumpstart for the children,” said Jo Pierce, who’s taught the program with Katie Sowers since its inception. The 20 youngsters enrolled in JumpStart Kindergarten, an eight-day program in its third year at La Grange, leave with a better idea of what school’s about, parents get some homework assignments for July and August and teachers gather information about students’ needs. A summer program designed to give incoming kindergartners a boost before school starts offers as many advantages for parents and teachers as for students, according to the La Grange Elementary School teachers involved in the program.

Kindergarten jump start