PRESCOTT – A proposal for a four-day school week next year was approved by the Prescott School Board at its February meeting Thursday night.
The board accepted the proposal which will now go to the district’s Personnel Policy Committee (PPC) for input. Once its approved by the PPC, it will come back to the board for final approval and implementation.
This means when school starts in August students will be attending Monday through Thursday, instead of Monday through Friday. The PPC will let the board know its decision for the March meeting at which point the board could give final approval.
In other business, enrollment is up almost 30 students with 926 in the district. There are 347 in Prescott Elementary, 273 in Prescott Junior High School and 306 in Prescott High School.
The board also approved certified and supplemental salary schedules for the 2024-25 school year.
At the beginning of the meeting, the board was given a data report concerning the Prescott preschool. Keila Wood, preschool director, said Pre-K is important and is fast-paced these days. It helps children get a solid foundation for their future education and teaches them function skills like waiting their turn, sharing and self-regulation. This is a program for three-year-old children, many of whom haven’t been taught such things at home.
Additionally, the children learn math skills, numbers, shapes, addition, subtraction and patterning. They also learn with iPads using skill games that don’t let them advance until they master the skill they’re working on.
Emma Burke, a pre-K teacher, said the number of students has increased from the Covid years of 2020 when there were 22 children to 43 at this time. She told the board there’s a waiting list and seven families have already signed up for next year through the school hasn’t started advertising the program yet.
Jesse Thompson, a pre-K teacher, said the children are taught how to recognize upper and lower case letters. “The program is successful.” In the pre-K program, she continued, children get academic and social skills and learn what’s expected of them so they’re ready for Kindergarten. The children learn appropriate classroom behavior and get an adequate nap.
Superintendent Robert Poole said there’s no charge for the pre-K program and there’s a waiting list. He added the program could be expanded if the district had more funding.