Equity has been a big push for the Watertown Public Schools, and Superintendent Dede Galdston said that part of giving students an equal opportunity is to provide universal Pre-kindergarten to the students of Watertown.
Galdston spoke of universal PreK during her talk a the 2020 Watertown Unity Breakfast, of which she was the honorary host. She said Martin Luther King Jr. not only inspired her with his Civil Rights work, but also in his study of education.
“Why not give every child equal opportunity to start school at an equal level?” Galdston said.
Offering universal PreK does not mean students are required to attend, Galdston said.
“Not everyone is going to enroll, you don’t have to, but anyone who wants to, come age 4, it’s available,” Galdston said in an interview. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
School Committee member Lindsay Mosca, who is also the Grade 5-12 math curriculum coordinator in Wakefield, said that education research shows that students who go to school before entering kindergarten have a leg up.
“It has been show that’s what’s best for kids,” Mosca said.
The idea of universal PreK is not a new one. It has been discussed at the state and federal and state levels, Galdston said, but has not become a reality.
She noted that communities have not always had to offer kindergarten, and it children are not required to attend school until they are 6 years old, which would be first grade.
Currently, Watertown has a PreK class at each elementary school. Starting next fall, the PreK classes, along with the district’s preschool program, will move to the Phillips Building (the former Phillips School). This is a precursor to the Early Childhood Center that will open when the new Hosmer Elementary School is built. A presentation about the Hosmer project from May 9, 2019 shows 13 classrooms devoted to early childhood education, with 11 PreK and two preschool classrooms.
Mosca said this means Watertown will be ready, should the opportunity arise.
“If the state offered money to allow students to go to PreK, if you don’t have the facilities, then you are stuck waiting,” Mosca said.
Funding is the one of the biggest sticking points. Galdston said there could be a way to do it, even if the state does not fund universal PreK.
“I would love to either reduce the cost or provide a sliding scale (based on income),” Galdston said. “We realize not everyone can afford PreK.”
“There could be a way to do it, even if the state does not fund universal Prek” ??? She means have the Watertown taxpayers pay for FREE daycare for all in town!! They will never stop trying to steal anything and everything from the working taxpayers.
Thanks for your comment. Just so people are clear, PreK is more like school than day care.
The children and families of Watertown deserve to have Pre-K. Our grandson is currently enrolled in the Hosmer School Pre-K. We are so impressed by the education that our grandson receives. His teachers are caring, well-trained professionals who make learning exciting. Whether he is retelling a story or sounding out syllables, he is always sharing his day. Watertown is a “hot spot” in regards to the housing market. We now have to continue to bring fresh ideas to the table in the area of the educational system. New schools and top-notch educational programs are the keys to Watertown’s continued success.
While I suppose there is something to be said for sending a child to public school at age 4, why not age 3 or even earlier?
Question: Is it wise to take a child away from his/her main NURTURERS at such early ages? And yes, pre-K will become mandatory if teachers have their way. Don’t kid yourself.
Question: Are teachers nurturers of very young children? Proof please.
I suspect that national teachers’ unions are behind the push for pre-K and even pre-pre-K. More jobs for teachers, after all.
A lot of the pre-K push is for political reasons. What do I mean? Here is one example:
Many libraries and schools in the country are bringing in adult Drag Queens to read
LGBTQ stories to 3 and 4 year olds.
Take a look and see all the cities (including Boston and Fall River) it is in:
https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/
https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/family/item/33901-american-library-association-pushing-perversion-through-drag-queen-story-hour (Yes, librarians push Drag Queens onto children)
https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/labarbera-drag-queen-story-hour-indoctrination-children-lgbtq-culture
That’s what you “educators” are inflicting on children. You know it’s wrong, and you do it anyway because you are trying to indocrinate young kids.
Dear Watertown superintendent, educators, ands school committee:
What is your opinion of Drag Queen Story Hour reading to pre-K and others? It’s a fair question. Let’s hear from you.
I love the idea of having pre K as long as no drag queens reading to by children and filling young kids with LGBT stuff. Let a kid be a kid and only teach school stuff have fun with friends. Those things that are personal leave it for home. It’s not schools job to teach about LGBT stuff. That’s personal stuff you do out of school. I love the idea my daughter is 4 and she loves school and is ready to go unfortunately I can’t afford it.
If parents didn’t have to work and could be home nurturing their kids every day, or made so much money that they could afford great day care, we wouldn’t need universal day care, would we? Public PreK in our schools is a little different–its a community wide response to kids’ needs. Some people even think young kids are happy socializing with others, being stimulated and challenged by not strictly academic activities. I was lucky enough to stay home with my kids (in the olden days), formed a play group (maybe mostly for the parents?), then took them to a community day care. But I see the great need for our children to have every opportunity for creative play and attention before regular kindergarten. As someone above mentioned, Kindergarten was new at one point, and look how it helps kids today. Watertown and Dede Galdston are working to create good teaching environments and opportunities in our schools. Let’s support what is sure to be a treasured experience for little kids. Nurturing can happen all the time, not just in the mornings, and I do believe that it takes a village to raise a child. With oversight and quality programs, we can have nurturing in public schools.
By the way, I have heard great things from parents about creative programs, such as reading to little kids by Drag Queens, in two cities. Kids care that they are read to, the caring of the people who read to them, and appreciate people being their authentic selves. Kids have no political agenda and take people for who they are. They like creativity and dramatic readings. My guess is that only the parents are aware of the labels identifying the readers. Sounds like a great opportunity to me. Barbara R
Barbara, highly sexual-like adult drag queens, many of whom have obscene websites, are clearly not appropriate for little kids or any minor.
Your saying that they are “authentic” is not convincing.
Pardon me, Barbara, for asking this, but have you lost your mind that you would think such things are appropriate?
When did you start believing this?
Thanks for the comments everyone. I think we are getting off topic,.which is universal PreK. Also please do not address comments directly towards others. You can express your opinion about an issue without directing it someone in particular.
There was an interesting article in the Boston Globe on 8/25/19 by Hattie Bernstein regarding the Milldam Nursery School in Concord. They follow a “play-based curriculum that emphasizes comfort, safety, and joy”. “There is a price to pay for hurrying the wonder years, and the Milldam community isn’t willing to pay it.”
“It used to be that educators and parents wanted kids reading by a certain age, and if kids were not making progress by age 4 or 5, they worried,” says Kristen Herbert, director of teaching and learning for the Concord Public schools. “Educators understand more and more, but not the parents yet, that this is not helpful . . . Long-term, there is no effect on achievement.”
A mother in Concord was quoted as saying she was looking for a program that lets kids be kids.
I have read other articles stating pretty much the same. We are forcing children into intense learning at younger ages and then we wonder why they are all stressed out and act out. They’ve proven that children who do not have the extra pre-k education do catch up when they get into kindergarten and they’ve had a lot more fun. A key part of their home education is parents reading to their children and exposing them to nature and outside play rather than all the electronic gadgets. Parents often take the easy way out by handing them their phones and laptops to use as baby sitting tools. The responsibility for education should fall on the parents and not all on the schools and taxpayers.