A step ahead El Verano Elementary opens first preschool in the district

What began as a dream two and a half years ago became reality this past December when a new preschool located at El Verano Elementary opened its doors. The preschool is the first of its kind to be opened and run by the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. The culmination of diligent effort on the part of principal Maité Iturri and her staff has paid off for 24 lucky four-year-olds, who attend the program every day.
“It’s always been a desire of our staff to have a preschool here at El Verano,” said Iturri. “And even though we’ve only been open a short time, it’s been extremely rewarding. The kids are learning, they’re socializing, they’re speaking English. It’s great!”
Studies show that there can be incredible benefits for children who attend preschool, among them increased reading abilities and an accelerated rate of learning. According to the RAND California Preschool Study, “effective preschool programs capitalize on a time when children’s brains are rapidly developing, laying a foundation of social skills, knowledge and self-confidence that paves the way for success in kindergarten and beyond.”
Iturri couldn’t agree more. When she looks in on the preschool it is with absolute joy. But getting to this point was like climbing a mountain – slowly. The preschool is funded through a grant from the state of California called the Cal State Preschool Program. Iturri and a slew of helpers began writing the grant in 2006. But it took until 2007 for the preschool to receive the grant money. Then, it took another full year to get the license for the preschool to finally open its doors last December. And keeping those doors open takes a lot of work. Grant work is ongoing to keep funding alive and is in addition to running the elementary portion of El Verano school.
Currently the preschool program is half-day, from 8:15 to 11:15 a.m. The grant allows for a one-to-eight teacher-to-student ratio and there are three teachers – one of whom is bi-lingual – assigned to the preschool. One of the teachers, Terra Stephens, was a teacher and director of a school in Seattle for 13 years before moving to Sonoma. In Seattle, Stephens’ specialty was behavior management and she prides herself on a 90-day turnaround rate for student behavior issues. She’s applied the same techniques to the preschool, taking children who’ve never been in a school environment and making them self-confident, mannerly and caring individuals in record time. “This group has truly been amazing,” said Stephens. “When they first arrived they just ran around the room, yelling and dumping toys on the floor. In just six weeks, they’ve learned self-control and socialization skills.” Of course, education is part of the preschool day and raising the literacy rate is a priority for Stephens and the other preschool teachers. Currently, the students are learning letter recognition and the corresponding sounds for each letter.
Twenty of the 24 preschool students are English Language Learners and the curriculum mirrors the structured English Immersion program at El Verano Elementary. “Every day the preschool students sing songs, interact in groups and learn what it’s like to go to school. This knowledge will be invaluable for them when they enter kindergarten,” said Iturri.
Iturri had hoped most of the students would continue on at El Verano, and some sixty percent of the students at the preschool do come from that school’s attendance area. There is currently a waiting list of 17 students. Unfortunately, without additional funding, there isn’t a way to accommodate these children. In the future, Iturri would like to have either full-day preschool or, ideally, two half-days, allowing the preschool to serve another 24 students.
“Preschool is necessary for students to be successful in school and in life,” said Iturri. “We are lucky enough to have an opportunity to provide that service to our community.”