St. Clair County Schools Pre-K Program
Description
In 2007 St. Clair County School System received a grant from the Office of School Readiness (OSR) to begin a Pre-Kindergarten program at Springville Elementary School. In the following years the county received grant money to fund programs at Odenville, Moody and Ragland respectively. In order to qualify for entrance into the OSR Pre-K programs, parents must enter their child’s name into a lottery from which a designated number of children (9 boys and 9 girls) will be drawn.
Important Information
Purpose:
The purpose of the Alabama Office of School Readiness “First Class” Pre-Kindergarten is to provide a full day at least 6.5 hours/day) 7:30-
2:00, five days per week, and 180 days per year of appropriate children’s program for eligible four year olds and to provide eaningful experiences that will have them ready for Kindergarten.
Curriculum:
Creative Curriculum and Houghton Mifflin curriculum are used. Teachers and Assistant Teachers are highly qualified and meet early childhood
development certification.
Age Requirement:
Children must be four years of age on or before September 2 of the current school year based on acceptable ocumentation such as birth certificate, social security card, passport, official immunization form, or official documents from other countries.
Residency Requirement:
The child must be an Alabama resident and maintain residency while enrolled. For purposes of this program, Alabama resident is defined as a
child who resides in the state of Alabama with proof of residence required (current utility bill).
Procedure for Class Selection:
All lotteries begin at 6:00 sharp; the door will be locked at 6:00.
On the evening of the lottery a parent or legal guardian must be present. Upon arrival for the drawing you will place your child’s name in the “hat”. Once the drawing begins, we will draw for 9 boys and 9 girls. (If multiple siblings are in the drawing for the class and one is drawn there is no guarantee that the other sibling/s will be in the program. If and when one of the siblings’ names is drawn it depends on the slots still available in the drawing if the other siblings are placed in the class. For instance, if one of their names is the first name drawn the sibling would automatically take the second slot but if one of the siblings is drawn at the end and no other slots are available then they will fall into the waiting list. If one of their names are drawn first, second etc. depending on the number of siblings then they would fall in those slots.)Once these 18 have been selected, we will continue to draw a waiting list. We will draw a minimum of 10 students for the waiting list; 5 boys and 5 girls. In case a student withdraws or leaves the program, we will refer to the waiting list and select a boy or girl, depending on the gender of the child who left the program.
Orientation: (immediately following the lottery)
Once the class has been chosen, only the parents or legal guardian of the students who have been selected will be required to stay and complete the necessary forms regarding enrollment into the program. This means that no one will be required to submit the documents listed below unless your child is selected. It will be necessary for you to bring with you the following documents in case your child is selected:
Proof of residency in the state of Alabama; such as a utility bill.
Your child’s blue form or proof of immunization form.
Copy of parent/guardian driver’s license.
Copy of child’s birth certificate.
Copy of Social Security Card
As stated, we will select the class first and then those parents of the chosen students will be required to complete paperwork. A parent or legal guardian MUST be present and have the above documents available on the night of the drawing.
If you would like to learn more about the Pre-K grant, go to http://children.alabama.gov/ and click the OSR tab. Please complete this form and leave at the elementary school or the St. Clair County Board of Education before March 1 (Keep the other forms for your information.)