Southern Schools

Annual Preschool Advisory Committee Meeting Min

April 18, 2019

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Annual Preschool Advisory Committee Meeting
April 12, 2019

Present: Chris Prososki, Jerry Rempe, Amanda Antholz, Annie Manley, Janice Cohorst, Janet Roberts, Audrey Whitwer, Tiffany Henrichs, & Patty Novotny

Chris Prososki called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.

Program Highlights – 3-Year-Old & 4-Year-Old Preschool Programs

• All students in the area that wanted to attend Shining Stars Preschool were allowed in the program and neither preschool turned away any students (There was not a waiting list this year).
• The new application process allowed parents to know sooner if their son or daughter was accepted into preschool.
  • Preschool enrollment officially started on February 1 and ran until March 15.
  • Formal acceptance letters were sent out by April 1.
• The parent members felt the Remind app was very advantageous this school year.

Areas of Growth – 3-Year-Old & 4-Year-Old Preschool Programs

• Parents not knowing which number to call when it came to the 3-year-old preschool program and the 4-year-old preschool program.
• It was hard for preschool teachers to follow both state guidelines through Southern Public Schools (From the Nebraska Department of Education) and federal guidelines through Head Start (From the United States Department of Education).
• Not being able to provide transportation for either the 3-year-old preschool program or the 4-year-old preschool program.
• There were concerns brought forth regarding the afternoon 3-year-old preschool students not being able to take a nap in the afternoons and parents needing to adjust at home in the evenings. 

Other Topics Discussed at the Meeting

• The new preschool calendar (Two additional instructional days were added [Went from 142 preschool instruction days to 144 preschool instruction days) to better align with the district calendar.
• The transition to just a Southern preschool.
  • New name (Little Raiders Preschool), new 4-year-old preschool location (In the Elementary School), providing transportation, implementation of a sliding fee scale, having the 4-year-olds eat lunch and have recess with the kindergarten & first grade students (Help with transition and help build a community with the younger students), an enrollment update (Currently, there are 19 4-year-old preschool students registered for next school year [Limited to 20 student due to size/Rule 11] and there are 12 3-year-old preschool students registered for next school year [Limited to 20 student due to size/Rule 11] as of April 12, 2019.
• The district updated the preschool handbook to match the newly adopted school board policies.
• The committee picked out a logo for the Little Raiders Preschool (It was designed by Morgan Neverve).
• The parents on the committee commend the district for providing transportation for preschool students next year..

Chris Prososki adjourned the meeting at 2:35 p.m.