Presque Isle pre-K program moving to Pine Street
PRESQUE ISLE — Just like the children themselves, SAD 1’s pre-K program is on the move.
According to pre-K administrator Ellen Schneider, the Presque Isle pre-K, which for the last 13 years has been located adjacent to Presque Isle Middle School, will be part of Pine Street Elementary School in the fall.
“The move is due to the fact that we have empty classrooms at Pine Street. It just makes sense to have pre-K in that building,” said Schneider. “We’ve had pre-K there before, but it was in an overflow situation. If we needed an extra session we would put it at Pine Street, and it’s always been popular when it’s there.
“For a parent, it’s a matter of convenience especially if they have older kids that are already at Pine Street,” she said, “and for the children it’s one less transition and that’s really important to us to be able to do that for the kids.”
Schneider explained that starting school is always an adjustment for the children, and then after the first year they have to transition going to a bigger school. By having Pine Street be a pre-K to grade 2 school, she said the children will face less stress.
“For kids that age it’s a huge transition and we’ve always dealt with it,” Schneider said. “We’ve had step-up days and visits to Pine Street, but now it will be one less transition for them and at this age, that’s critical.
“This year with the reductions that we’ve had to do — two second-grade teachers and one first-grade teacher — we had some available classrooms there, and we didn’t want to move pre-K there unless we felt that we would be able to sustain it there, and we believe we will,” said Schneider. “We have great numbers going into pre-K in the fall. We had our pre-K registration a couple of weeks ago and it’s the highest numbers we’ve seen in quite some time.”
The current pre-K building, which was a gift from the U.S. Air Force when the base closed, is jointly owned by SAD 1 and the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
“We have control of our side and they have control of their side. Their side is used for housing, and our side has been pre-K in one portion and daytime adult education in the other. What we’re going to be doing with the space once the pre-K program moves is moving our alternative education program back out of the high school and putting it where the pre-K was,” said Schneider, noting that the daytime adult education program will remain at its current location. “Another portion of that space will be allocated for tutoring for kids who are out of school whether it be for a disciplinary or a health reason. We don’t have a designated tutoring space … oftentimes it has to be offsite like at the local library, so we think that will serve a really big need that we have.”
Schneider said while the parents and children will benefit from the move, so will the teachers.
“It’s a lovely spot, but it isn’t a perfect setup,” she said. “The walls are actually partitioned, so sound has always been an issue. In fact the teachers oftentimes do their morning lessons in tandem so that one class isn’t singing one song and the other class is singing something else because it’s too confusing for the kids.
“Plus the teachers will have colleagues around them which will be good,” said Schneider, noting that Pine Street Elementary School Principal Loretta Clark will assume the pre-K administrator duties. “They are quite isolated up there. I think it will be a win-win situation all around and a good fit for everyone.”
Pine Street Elementary School will begin the 2012-13 school year Sept. 6. For more information or to register your child for pre-K, call the SAD 1 Health Office at 764-8105.
