Public preschool set to begin this fall

Lincoln Public School Superintendent Carla Anderson officially announced that they will be offering public preschool for kids as young as three-and-a-half years old at the start of the new school year that begins Aug. 27.

The chance to offer preschool came about when Lincoln school received a Montana Comprehensive Literacy Project grant to improve literacy skills for disadvantaged kids at all grade levels, which includes paying special attention to the development in pre-school aged kids.

“Just like K-12 education, there is no charge for Preschool,” Anderson said. “In addition, because our school meets the requirements for “Community Eligibility”, all children eat breakfast and lunch at no cost to families.”

Lincoln teacher Sondra Grigsby, who has a degree in early childhood development, will lead the preschool, with support from paraprofessionals.

Grigsby will be using the Opening Worlds of Learning, or OWL, curriculum, which focuses on the development of language, literacy and early math skills to prepare young children for kindergarten.

Language and literacy are particularly key to the new program, since a requirement of the four year, $750,000 grant is to see an increase in the percentage of children aged 3 to 5 who make significant gains on Expressive and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Tests.

To sign children up for the 2018-19 school year, call Lincoln Public Schools at 362-4201 for enrollment forms and information.