West Irondequoit CSD
Sept. 7th, 2022
WEST IRONDEQUOIT PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
MARCH 3, 2023
West Irondequoit CSD is excited to again offer a Pre-Kindergarten program for the 2023-24 school year. It will provide a safe, nurturing environment for students to explore, be creative and develop social/emotional and academic skills to prepare them for their K-12 education.
Last month, WICSD sent a Request For Proposal (RFP) to all qualified community-based childcare organizations seeking potential partnerships. We are pleased to share we will extend our partnership with Forever Friends, LLC from last year. We are currently working with other childcare organizations to see if we can open more Pre-K classrooms. Once finalized, we anticipate being able to provide 16-54 West Irondequoit 4-year olds a spot in a Pre-K program working with our community-based childcare organizations.
Class size is expected to be about 18 students and the school day 6½ hours. Children who are 4 years old by Dec. 1, 2023 are eligible (no exceptions). As we await our final number of classrooms and spots, we are happy to open up the application link for the lottery.
Apply for the lottery via this link: https://forms.office.com/r/LxMrTD4Ccx
TIMELINE FOR LOTTERY
- March 3 – 17: Lottery application link is open for interested families. Submission deadline: 3 PM, March 17.
- March 16: Board of Education presentation of Pre-K contracts presented for any additional community-based organizations. We will continue our contract with Forever Friends for 2023-24. This is the date we will also have finalized number of slots of students (again the potential range is 16-54 students).
- March 20: Lottery to select students. It will be videotaped and available to view afterward. Once the lottery is held, families of selected students will be notified beginning March 21. At this time, if there are multiple locations for Pre-K, selected families will get to choose their location in the order they were selected in the lottery. For example, we will call the name drawn for the first spot and offer them the available locations from which to choose. Then we'll move to the second name, third name, etc. until all location spots are filled. We will create a waitlist for all applications. This allows us to work through the list if any of the originally selected students decline.
- Week of March 20th: Families of selected students for one of the open spots will be called starting on Tuesday, March 21st. All other waitlisted students will be sent a letter via email and the postal mail with their waitlisted number.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is Pre-K? Pre-Kindergarten is a developmental educational program for West Irondequoit 4-year-olds focused on play-based learning, social emotional skills, verbal and physical growth, literacy, numeracy in a culturally responsive environment.
Who is eligible? Children who are 4 years old by December 1st of the upcoming school year and live in West Irondequoit.
Is the program half day or full day? Full day (6½ hours), 5 days a week. Specific times depend on each community-based childcare organization, but as an example this year the day ran from 8:30 AM—3 PM. The Pre-K program runs concurrent to the West Irondequoit CSD calendar, so when our K-12 students have off from school, there are no Pre-K classes.
Is transportation provided? The school district does not provide transportation for Pre-K. This is the responsibility of the family.
Where is Pre-K held in the district? During the 2022-23 school year, the district partnered with Forever Friends, 95 Stanton Lane, and we will continue to hold one classroom of Pre-K at Forever Friends for the 2023-24 school year. We are still in the process to determine if more community-based organizations will be available for West Irondequoit Pre-K for the 2023-24 school year.
Is there a cost associated with the program? No, there is no cost. Note: If a family requires before or after-school care, that is managed independently from the school district.
Is this a Pre-K or UPK (Universal Pre-K) program? No, it is not universal Pre-K for all. Through NYS funding, we are awarded a certain number of student slots for Pre-Kindergarten. During the 2023-24 school year we are hoping to have between 16-54 spots available. We hope to expand this in the coming years.
Could WICSD host its own UPK or Pre-K classes? Yes, but currently we only have Pre-K classrooms through community-based organizations.
