Will kindergartners, 1st graders return?
Arizona schools see historic drops in enrollment during pandemic
“For those kiddos, it’s definitely going to be about identifying who they are, and what kind of experiences they have had in the past.” Steph Reeves Principal at Basha Elementary in Chandler
Anxious about her son experiencing school for the first time ever through a computer screen, Nicole White chose not to enroll her son in kindergarten last year. Instead, she homeschooled him, working through phonics worksheets and art projects.
“I didn’t want to take the joy out of learning for him,” said White, a stay-at-home parent and smallbusiness owner in Gilbert. “I couldn’t wrap my head around the thought of him having to sit there in front of a Zoom class.”
Now, White is ready to send her son to in-person school. That means when he begins first grade this year, it will be his first time learning in a traditional classroom. And he probably won’t be the only student. Arizona saw its steepest enrollment declines at schools last year in early grades. About 42% of the loss was due to preschoolers and kindergartners not showing up on public-school rolls, according to state data. That mirrors national trends: Schools across the country saw families keeping their youngest learners out of public schools.
While both prekindergarten and kindergarten are optional in Arizona and parents sometimes hold their children back from starting school until they have an extra year of development, a practice known as “red-shirting,” last school year still saw historic drops of early-grade students in classrooms.
“To the parent that is on the fence ... I want to stress the importance of getting their child that early experience in school.” Danielle Airey Peoria Unified School District communications officer
Now, school leaders across the state say they hope to see those students back in school this fall. They are preparing for a class of kindergarten and first graders who come in at vastly different levels depending on how they spent this past year.
Students at day care programs will have received more socialization, while those whose parents were able to work with them on the basics of spelling and reading will have a grounding in those areas. This fall’s group of kindergartners may have missed preschool preparation, and first graders may have missed basic behavioral lessons in how to learn in a classroom.
With that in mind, school districts across Arizona are using federal relief money to prepare for the fall classes of kindergarten and first graders through increased summer programs, new classroom plans and a broader enrollment drive.
“Young children learn most from the quality of their environment. A lot of the experiences are about play and learning how to work with each other and be with other children,” said Liz Barker Alvarez, chief policy adviser for early childhood agency First Things First. “What kindergarten teachers are going to face is lots of children who had their learning interrupted.”
A boost in summer programs, teachers
Arizona received about $700 million in aid for schools in 2020 through the federal CARES Act and $1 billion more this past February. That money has helped schools expand their summer programs, advertise fall enrollment and hire support staff specifically for earlygrade learners.
Peoria Unified School District has doubled the length of its free summer preparation program for incoming kindergarten students, from four days to eight, in anticipation of students who did not have a preschool experience last year, district communications officer Danielle Airey said. The district has not only extended the length of the program this summer, but can now offer it at most schools instead of a select few.
That program helps instruct students on school basics from how to hold a pencil to standing in a line and listening to directions from a teacher. Each school does a preassessment of students coming into the program, which helps them anticipate what they may need when school starts.
“It’s a proactive response that allows us to better serve them,” Airey said.
At Freedom Elementary School in Buckeye, Principal Toni Reynolds said it’s not unusual for kindergarten students to come in without preschool experience.
This year, she anticipates a significant number of first- and second graders will come to school without prior classroom experience. She is particularly worried about the incoming second grade class, whose first grade year, and crucial final trimester of kindergarten, were interrupted by COVID-19.
School leaders say they are particularly worried about how the disruption has affected student literacy. The period from kindergarten to third grade is particularly important for learning developmental and academic skills, including reading. How well a student reads in third grade can determine not only whether they graduate from high school, but what kind of jobs they can get and how well they can navigate health care or other systems as adults.
Freedom, like other schools, has put a particular focus of their support plans for this summer and fall on reading.
“Our teachers did a heroic job, but we are seeing the lowest levels ever in terms of their literacy,” Reynolds said.
The school tested students at the end of last year and, from there, recommended them for an intensive summer program they are running using federal relief funds.
Tiffany Duffer, a kindergarten lead teacher at Freedom, is one of the educators running the school’s intensive summer sessions. Students are placed in classes of eight to 10, and educators often break them down into even smaller groups of four to work on phonics and other supports for struggling readers.
So far, it’s helped. “We just finished our third week and we have seen tremendous growth, which is great,” Duffer said.
Steph Reeves, principal at Basha Elementary in Chandler, saw a similar dynamic. “A lot of our first graders are expected to read,” Reeves said.
But, depending on what they did last year, they with said.
Other students may be advanced, in which case a school may bump them into a reading or math group at a higher grade level.
“For those kiddos, it’s definitely going to be about identifying who they are, and what kind of experiences they have had in the past,” Reeves said.
Pendergast Elementary School District used federal funding to hire additional, temporary staff to reduce class sizes for students who need additional support, fund professional development for teaching faculty and buy new instructional materials. The district also will offer afterschool tutoring to support students who are struggling, Superintendent Jennifer Cruz said.
She is also most concerned about students going into first grade without formal kindergarten.
“We are offering beforeand after-care opportunities, tutoring and different family resources,” she said. “We are really wanting to wrap around the families.” may not come in
those skills, she
An enrollment push, with months to go
Freedom Elementary School has done multiple enrollment sessions already this year and is allowing online enrollment in kindergarten for the first time. At Peoria Unified, schools have hung enrollment-related banners on school buses and targeted kindergarten families online with messaging to reinforce the importance of early childhood education.
Those districts have not yet seen a flood of kindergarten or first grade students enrolling for this fall, but it may still be early days. School leaders say enrollment typically only picks up in mid-July and they hope families become more comfortable with sending their children to school buildings as COVID-19 numbers decrease and vaccinations continue to be available.
While parents may be regrouping after an intense school year, Airey from Peoria has one main message for families, particularly those considering whether to send students to prekindergarten: Come to school.
“To the parent that is on the fence ... I want to stress the importance of getting their child that early experience in school,” she said.
White, the Gilbert parent, says her son is excited to attend school in the classroom. And after a year of being his stand-in teacher, she is ready, too.
“I don’t think I could do another year of home school unless I had to — it is definitely high stress,” White said.
And her son is excited to see children his age.
“He says, ‘It will be OK. I just want to go to school.’ ”