Pre-Kindergarten Program Overview

School meals are free for all students and include daily breakfast and lunch.

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Students gain many positives from being in school – not just academic success but also being part of the school community and developing traits like curiosity, creativity and responsibility. Showing up on time every day is important to your child’s success and learning from preschool forward.

Missing 10% of school or more (about 2 days a month) – excused or unexcused – means a student is “chronically absent.” Chronic absenteeism in Pre-K and kindergarten has a negative long-term effect on children’s academic success. It can make it harder for children to:

• Gain early reading and math skills that set the stage for elementary school
• Build strong relationships with adults and other students
• Develop good attendance habits for success in elementary school and beyond

If a Pre-K student is absent for more than three consecutive weeks for any reason other than a documented medical issue, they will be unenrolled from PPS and will forfeit their current Pre-K slot.

If a family wishes to re-enroll their Pre-K student upon their return, they will need to submit a new application and be added to the waitlist. The previous Pre-K spot will not be held for the student.

Toileting

• Your child does not have to be toilet-trained to attend the PPS Pre-K program

Allergies and Medication

• Students can attend the PPS Pre-K program with an allergy or required medication.
•  If your child has such a medical concern, please request a meeting with their school prior to the first day of school to create a safety plan.  This meeting will include the school nurse or partner site director.

Illness

• We encourage families to review this guidance from the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics when determining whether or not your child is too sick to send to school.  If your child becomes sick while at school, you will receive a call and may be asked to pick them up and take them home.

Transportation WILL be available to:

• Students enrolled in the PPS Pre-K program who have an IEP that includes a requirement for specialized transportation

Transportation MAY be available to:

• Students placed at their neighborhood elementary school
• Students placed at a partner site in the neighborhood where they live
• Students from the Ocean Avenue neighborhood assigned to classrooms in partner sites

Transportation is NOT available (unless required by an IEP) to:

• Students placed at elementary schools outside their neighborhood
• Students placed at partner sites outside their neighborhood
• Students placed at Peaks Island Elementary School

PPS Multilingual and Multicultural Center

• All multilingual PPS Pre-K students are screened to determine their English proficiency
• All multilingual PPS Pre-K families are interviewed to determine which language(s) will be used for spoken and/or written communication between the family and PPS
• PPS Pre-K Students are seen as multilingual learners if they are actively learning two or more languages

Services for Multilingual Learners

• Are available in every Pre-K classroom
• Are provided for eligible multilingual students who are acquiring English
• Take place in the classroom so students don’t miss anything important or fun

• There are students with learning delays and disabilities in all of our Pre-K classrooms. We also have special purpose classrooms for a limited number of students with disabilities whose IEPs are written for a smaller classroom taught by a special education teacher
• Students with IEPs can receive all of their special education services at school
• PPS implements child find and referral processes to identify students who may be eligible for special education services and works in partnership with staff and families to coordinate evaluations and services through the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process.