PreK-3rd Early Learning Department

Overview

Research has firmly established that investing in early learning yields powerful benefits for children; both in early elementary and in as a cornerstone to their overall educational success. Yet it is not enough to provide quality education for a year or two in a child’s early years. At Seattle Schools our vision is for every child to experience a quality, cohesive and joyful learning experience from PreK through 3rd grade that will provide the strong foundation needed to succeed in school and life.

Goals

Seattle Schools is committed to working with our partners to create a well‐aligned educational continuum providing access for all children to high quality, full-day PreK which is aligned to quality full day Kindergarten, 1st,  2nd and 3rd grades. To realize this vision Seattle Schools, along with our private and City of Seattle partners have drafted a five year PreK-3rd Action Plan, with the following goals:

• Expand access to quality PreK and Full Day Kindergarten
• Increase quality of education across the PreK-3rd continuum
• Develop and implement aligned standard assessment tools and data systems
• Create seamless transitions across the continuum
• Increase support and Intervention for children who need it most

Early Learning Programs & Initiatives

Through partnerships and collaboration, the Early Learning department seeks to create an equitable system of early education, anchored in cultural relevance, effective instruction and whole-child development. Our current efforts to create an equitable education for all children include:

• Seattle Public Schools Head Start (half day and full day models)
• Kindergarten
• South Shore Elementary - PreK-3rd Partnership with the New School Foundation
• Community Alignment Partner Programs - child care, before and after school care and community learning centers housed in Seattle Schools
• Seattle Schools PreK-3rd Professional Development
• PreK-3rd Partnership - a district/City of Seattle and private partnership for early learning.