District’s migrant preschool program sets children to excel in education, future
For about seven years now, Crane School District’s migrant preschool program has actively served families whose lives are split between Yuma and Salinas, California, both agricultural hubs where they lend a hand each season.
According to Director of Academic Support Norine Bowers, Yuma County accounts for 85% of the state’s migratory students. By having a resource for those children as early as preschool, they’re ready to tackle what lies ahead – in education and in life.
“Migratory kids, in general, usually lag behind the other students because they move so often,” Bowers said. “We also know that early childhood (education) is so important for kids to get them ready, so to get that population in at pre-K and get them prepared for kindergarten – it’s just so important for them. It’s important for all preschoolers, but especially that population because of their circumstances.”
Currently, Crane’s migrant preschool program operates on the campuses of Valley Horizon, Gary A. Knox, H.L. Suverkrup and Ronald Reagan elementary
Schools. The ultimate goal, according to Bowers, is to expand to all nine district elementary schools.
“We have kindergarten teachers that we touch base with tell us that they’re so much more prepared socially, because they learn through play,” Bowers said. “Their social skills are there, they know how to share, they know how to communicate, as well as their basic academics. It’s not a watered-down curriculum; those state standards are there.”
For parents like Veronica Ochoa, the value of having resources like this for their children’s most formative years is undeniable.
Ochoa has three children – a second-grader, a fourth-grader and a high school junior – who all began their education in a migrant preschool program. From November to April, they attend school in Yuma County, while the other part of the year is spent living and learning in Salinas while Ochoa’s husband harvests lettuce and spinach.
“It’s a challenge moving back and forth,” Ochoa said. “It hasn’t been easy on the kids, because they get used to one school and their friends, but we have to follow my husband – he’s the one that works in agriculture. We’ve been doing this for 16 or 17 years already, so we’re getting used to it.”
One of the biggest challenges Ochoa has found in her children’s education is consistency between curriculums.
“Some of the schools don’t teach the same things,” she said. “Some of the classes my daughter (in high school) took in Yuma aren’t being honored in Salinas, and vice versa. Sometimes she has to do double the work. Sometimes she has to take them again or take extra classes to be up to the speed of each district and school.”
Without the foundation built through her involvement in the preschool program, Ochoa said she’s sure her daughter – and her sons, too, for that matter – would struggle even more. Preschool is what set them on the course to excel.
“They’re more knowledgeable,” Ochoa said. “They knew how to write their first and last name (in preschool); I know other kids that don’t even know how to write their first name. The preschool helped them pick up everything a little bit faster so when they made the transition to elementary school, they were ready to go.”
Today, Ochoa’s children continue to move forward in migrant education programs at their respective schools. If they had the whole experience to do over again, Ochoa said she wouldn’t change a thing.
“Why not take advantage of the program? It’s for the benefit of your kids and their education,” she said. “They’re going to be better people (because of it) – more knowledgeable, more social, the whole works.”
Additional information on Crane’s migrant education programs is available at craneschools.org/Services.aspx.