The Watertown Public Schools Extended Day program has been so popular that it consistently has more applications than spots available. School officials said the number of spots will not be increased, but efforts will be made to try to prevent students being on the waitlist for more than one year.
The School Committee heard updates on the Extended Day — the district’s after school program for children in grades K-5 — as well as the PreK and district’s Preschool programs at its Jan. 6 meeting.
Debi Cornelius, Director of Community Education, said the Extended Day Program is full with 410 students, and officially has 35 students on the waitlist, including 14 at Hosmer, 15 at Lowell and 6 from the PreK program.
Parents who spoke at Monday’s meeting urged the district to offer more spots in Extended Day, and added that the number of families seeking a spot is actually larger that the waitlist, but because there is a $100 deposit many do not get on the waitlist if they do not get into the program.
School Committee member Lily Rayman Read asked what was limiting the size of Extended Day. Cornelius said nearly half the staff of the program work in the district.
“(Extended Day) starts as soon as school dismissal happens. Those folks need time to finish their school day position before they can transition to us,” Cornelius said. “The way we manage is we have students go to the cafeteria where we have a good number of staff helping take attendance.”
All the spots in the cafeteria are full at Hosmer and Lowell, and there is a little space at Cunniff, Cornelius said.
“It would not be responsible to continue to spread out beyond the cafeteria the first 15-20 minutes if we don’t have the staff to do that at this point,” she said.
Families with students in K-3 will have a new option next fall when the Watertown Boys & Girls Club opens its licensed childcare program, said Superintendent Dede Galdston. She said there will be space for around 65-75 students, and there the Club has a place to sign up for information on its website (click here).
One thing that must be finalized is transportation.
“We already have busing that takes students from their school to the Boys & Girls Club,” Galdston said. “Yes there will be more students so the (Boys & Girls Club) director (Gary Beatty) and I discussed what that may look like. It is fee based. Potentially the School Department could be procuring the busing and have students pay to take the bus.”
Some changes will be made in response to the feedback provided by parents this year, Cornelius said, particularly in the registration process.
The registration dates will be moved earlier.
“Priority registration would open first, sometime in early spring , immediately following we would do new student registration,” Cornelius said.
Previously the process took place in May, but the date will be moved earlier in the spring, and notification of whether a student got a spot will be moved earlier from past years, when it took place in June.
Families that get on the waitlist the first year will move up to the priority registration the next year, Cornelius said.
“We are really hoping to avoid having students on the waitlist for multiple years,” Cornelius said. “It is not easy for families to be on a waitlist. We can hear that, we recognize that. If we can help prevent that from happening again for another year we would like to do that.”
While students will get into the priority group, she said, that does not guarantee a spot. If there are more students applying during priority registration than there are spots, then a lottery will take place to decide who gets in.
Cornelius thanked the School administration and the School Committee for increasing pay rates in the Extended Day program, and for offering signing and staff retention bonuses.
“I really think that all of the things combined have made a world of difference for hiring,” she said. “We are seeing a lot of candidates coming in who are interested in working in our program where before we were struggling even getting applications. We have been able to be more selective in who we are hiring, and have higher standards in who we are hiring.”
See more about the Extended Day Program in the presentation to the School Committee by clicking here.
PreK
Changes are coming for Watertown’s PreK classes, as well. More of the classes will be based in the elementary school buildings.
The program is free and open to students who are age 5 by Aug. 31 of the year they enroll.
This year, there is one class each at Lowell and Cunniff elementary schools, and the other classes take place at the Early Steps Early Childhood Center, next to Hosmer. Early Steps Principal Theresa McGuinness said next year there will be two classes at Lowell, two at Hosmer, and two at Cunniff.
“It makes sense to have children have a relationship with the schools where children will ultimately be attending,” McGuinness said. “We can’t guarantee they will be at the school (they will ultimately attend), but a majority will be.”
There will also be two classes at Early Steps, including one integrated class with general education and special education students.
There are limited spots in the PreK program, and Galdston said that while the program is free, students with economic hardship may get priority. Families should fill out financial need forms to be eligible.
Students in all of the PreK classes are eligible to apply for the Extended Day Program McGuinness said.
Preschool
The Watertown Schools’ preschool program is available to students who turn 3 by Aug. 31 of the year they enroll. The program is tuition based, except for students who attend it as part of their special education IEP (Individualized Educational Plan).
There will be seven preschool classes with a variety of day and lengths. Some are five days a week, one is three days. All start at 8 a.m. and different classes end at different times (noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.), McGuinness said.
A virtual information night will be held for both the Watertown PreK and Preschool programs on Jan. 14. PreK and Plus extended day info will be from 6-6:30 p.m. and preschool information will be presented from 6:30-7 p.m.
There will be an Early Steps in-person visitation day on Jan. 22 from 2:45-3:45 p.m.
The application period runs from Jan. 27 to Feb. 28, and confirmation of places will be sent to parents and families on or before March 14. Registration takes place from March 15-28.
See more information about the PreK and Preschool registration by clicking here.