March is a month of change as we tran-sition from the cold of winter to the hint of warmer weather in the spring. It is also a time of change for our preschool students as they continue to develop in their educa-tional program and prepare for their entry into kindergarten. This is a period of change for preschool staff as they develop addition-al skills in the implementation of the new High Scope Preschool Curriculum and pre-pare for spring evaluations of student pro-gress, curriculum implementation and pro-gram evaluation. Parents are in the pro-cess of selecting a kindergarten placement for their child before the March 31

st deadline

for the school selection process and the parents of preschoolers with special needs will begin attending Committee on Pre-school Special Education meetings to re-view their child’s progress toward Individual Educational Program (IEP) goals to decide their child’s instructional program for next year.

The early childhood department is fo-cused on facilitating smooth transitions for our preschool families, students and staff at

this time. In collaboration with our district Department of Student Equity and Place-ment specific dates and times have been set up for a placement specialist to visit each UPK site to provide registration infor-mation to PreK parents. In addition, an op-portunity for parents to register their child for kindergarten will be provided during the first three Saturdays in March. See page 2 for complete listing of dates and details.

Childcare will be provided during the reg-istration sessions. Parents should bring their child’s birth certificate, immunization record, proof of address, and a photo identi-fication for themselves to the registration session. We are hoping many parents will take advantage of this opportunity to regis-ter their child for kindergarten or prekinder-garten. Prekindergarten registration will also be available at the sessions. PreK staff and parents should also remember to save the date for our upcoming Transition to Kindergarten Event that will be held on Sat-urday, May 21

st from 10 AM -2 PM at

School 33 and the Ryan Center at 500 Webster Avenue!

March is a month of change and transition submitted by Dr. Robin Hooper

March, 2011 Volume VI, Issue 7

Prekindergarten News Rochester City School District

The secret of

genius is to carry the spirit of

childhood into

maturity.

-Thomas Henry

Huxley

CPSE and

Parent Information

see page 2

***

Professional

Development: High/Scope

Spring Seminar

Literature in the

HighScope Classroom

see page 3

***

Moving Minds

see page 4

Many strategies can

be used for both plan-

ning and recall. At

the Community Place

of Greater Rochester,

children jumped

through hoops before

making their plan. In

the Firefly room at

RCN, children

marched dinosaurs

on a map of their

classroom areas, to

recall where they

worked that day.

Children plan and recall their work in UPK classrooms

Jumping through hoops to plan Marching dinosaurs to recall

Page 2 Prekindergarten News

If a child has difficulty in speaking, moving, thinking or learning, or is facing physical or behavioral challenges, a parent may make a referral to the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) for an evaluation. Any profes-sional that knows the child, and who is concerned about the child’s skills, may make a request for a referral. A re-ferral packet will be mailed to the parent to complete and return to the Early Childhood Department. Along with the referral form, the packet also includes a copy of parents’ rights as a parent of a child with a suspected disability, in-formation regarding the types of evaluations, consent to

test and release information, and a site selection form. Parents may request assistance in completing these forms, if necessary. In addition, if the child is not registered in the Rochester City School District, the parent needs to reg-ister the child at the Parent Information and Student Regis-tration Center that is located at 690 St. Paul Street. The center is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and their phone number is 262-8241. Parents need to provide spe-cific documentation for registration. If you have any ques-tions regarding the referral process for special education services, please contact our office at 262-8241.

Updated CPSE Referral Process submitted by Karen Spawton, CPSE Chairperson

Registration for both Pre-K and Kindergarten will be availa-

ble from 9:00—11:00 in each of the three zones on the Satur-

day mornings listed below:

South Zone—March 5—Wilson Foundation, 200 Genesee St.

Northwest Zone—March 12—34 School, 530 Lexington Ave.

Northeast Zone—March 19—School 33, 500 Webster Ave.

Representatives will be on hand to complete everything nec-

essary for registration for all of the elementary schools.

Bring:

Child’s birth certificate

record of immunization

proof of address and

photo ID for parent.

For more information call 585 262 8277

Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration

Rochester City School District

Save the Date!

Transition to Kindergarten

Family Event Saturday, May 21, 2011

10:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m.

# 33 School and Ryan Center

500 Webster Avenue Plan to attend this special event filled with fun

learning activities for families of PreK children

who will be attending Kindergarten in Septem-

ber, 2011. Look for more details to be sent

home as the date approaches.

Parent Information Rochester City School District

Department of Early Childhood

www.rcsdk12.org/prek

262-8140

Page 3 Prekindergarten News

Professional Development Opportunities see more details on avatar

The children in Ms. Swedrock and Ms. Mur-

phy’s UPK class at #33 school have been

doing an author study on Ezra Jack Keats.

After reading Peter’s Chair during Work Time,

the children were offered the opportunity to

paint a chair during Work Time, Other Ezra

Jack Keats books were also presented during

Small Group Times and further explored at

various times of the day. At the end of the

study the children took a poll during Work

Time to see which book was their favorite. A

great time was had by all.

Active Learning: Enjoying Literature in the HighScope Classroom

- submitted by Sara Devine

Throughout January and February, there were multiple

DVD and webinar sessions on working with children with

special needs and conflict resolution, that were offered

through avatar at various times and locations. Partici-

pants appreciated the small groups which provided much

opportunity for asking questions and collegial sharing of

ideas.

Continue to look on avatar for HighScope webinars on additional topics during March and April. Topics to be

covered include: Adult-Child Interaction, COR/Anecdotes,

Program Quality Assessment and Growing Readers.

The Rochester Association for the Education of Young

Children (RAEYC) in partnership with the RCSD Early

Childhood Department, ECEQC and the Children’s Insti-

tute are once again sponsoring the Spring Seminar for Edu-

cators of Young Children. Gaye Gronlund’s presentation

will be Crafting Curriculum: Transforming Teacher

Observations into Planning for Each Child on April 13. For

more information: www.raeyc.org.

Children’s words retelling the

story of The Snowy Day were

recorded by the teacher, with

the child adding his/her name.

Clipboard was used to record

survey responses. What fun

painting something real!

Rochester City School District Department of Early Childhood 131 W. Broad St. Rochester, NY 14614

Phone: 585-262-8140 Fax: 585-262-8273 jeanne.herrick@rcsdk12.org www.rcsdk12.org/PreK

Vertical Writing at Ibero

As a Moving Minds participant, Chara

was asked to place the student’s names

on a vertical or slanted surface. Chara

and Marci created this wall “sign-in”

board to use with their students. The

vertical surface helps to facilitate prop-

er grasp and wrist position.

The children were very excited to

show their name and how they formed

their letters. If you would like to show

a progression of the child’s handwriting,

place paper strips on the wall twice a

month to add to the student’s portfolio.

MOVEMENT TIDBIT from Moving Minds

submitted by Carol Bedenik-Carmel, PT and Andrea Gerhardt, OT, RCSD

As part of the High/Scope day, many children are signing

in next to their “letter links.” The children in Chara Dukes’

UPK class are now signing in on this chart mounted on the

wall as suggested by Andrea Gerhardt from Moving Minds.