Webutuck to offer Pre-K for 3-year-olds

AMENIA — The Webutuck Elementary School will offer a preschool class for 3-year-old children, in addition to its existing program for 4-year-old children, during the upcoming school year.

The free program is intended to allow for children to become familiar with a classroom environment earlier in their development while providing daytime childcare to working parents.

For the past 15 years, Webutuck has offered two pre-kindergarten classes to parents wishing to enroll their 4-year-old children in school early. This year, the elementary school will offer a new program for 3-year-olds, said Webutuck Elementary School Principal Amanda Coppola.

The 3-year-old curriculum will largely parallel that of the 4-year-old class, while following state guidelines outlining the structure of programs for younger children. “The class is a play-based program where kids are learning to work with one another, be a part of a school community, be part of a team, that kind of thing,” Coppola said.

The class is projected to have between 14 and 16 students, though it can accommodate up to 18, Coppola said. Webutuck has hired an additional teacher, Elizabeth Fedele, to lead the class.

“We have a lot of families that struggle to pay for daycare in our district,” Coppola said.

There was a clear demand for the program from the school’s first proposal. “The response to this new class was overwhelmingly enthusiastic,” Coppola said.

To the extent that Webutuck’s new pre-k program is designed to accustom students to a school environment, it also allows parents to become at ease with entrusting their children’s care to someone else for the day. “The earlier parents are comfortable with their kids going to a kind of pre-k program, the easier it is for them when those kids start elementary school,” Coppola said.

In addition to its school-based health clinic and free breakfast and lunch options, the 3-year-old pre-kindergarten program at Webutuck is another in a series of efforts the school district has undertaken to find better ways to serve the community. “For a lot of working parents, this is really helpful,” Coppola said.