Would year-round pre-kindergarten help prepare Kansas City students for school? A commission thinks so and will recommend a change to the school board tomorrow. File photo, students arriving for the first day of school of Gordon Parks Elementary in August 2913.
The research is clear that early childhood learning pays off.
Now a Kansas City Commission is set to recommend that all pre-kindergarten children within the boundaries of the Kansas City Public Schools should be in school year-round.
The Kansas City Early Childhood Education Commission will make that proposal tomorrow to the Kansas City Public School board. It will also recommend the creation of an Early Learning Commission to manage the program and look for innovative ways to fund it.
“The Early Childhood Education Commission is a mix of civic and business leaders dedicated to increasing kindergarten readiness for young learners. A primary goal of their work was to determine the needs of the community, the resources available, and the next steps to take. The recommendation is meant to address the nearly 40 percent of KCPS kindergarten students annually that are found to be one to two years emotionally and academically behind what is expected of a new kindergarten student,” the school district said in a press release.
Who’s talking