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School Districts Across North Texas Want More Kids Enrolled In Pre-K

Fort Worth ISD Facebook Page
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Fort Worth ISD
An adult reads to students in the Fort Worth Independent School District. Some experts say children enrolled in pre-K outperform students who aren't enrolled in it.

School districts in Dallas, Fort Worth and across North Texas are making a big push this week to get parents to enroll their kids in pre-kindergarten.

The Fort Worth Independent School District isn’t just printing out flyers about pre-K. It’s producing commercials – in English and Spanish. They feature kids and Superintendent Kent Scribner touting the benefits of pre-K.

“In pre-K we learn letters, counting, science, reading, writing…,” the kids sing.

In Fort Worth, all eligible 4 year-olds can enroll in full day, free pre-K classes. Students who come from low-income families, are homeless or don’t speak English get priority for available spots.

Here's Fort Worth ISD's pre-K commercial in English:

In the Dallas Independent School District, officials are touting the growth of their pre-K program.

“We saw this school year compared to last school year, an increase of more than 1,000 new students in pre-K where we reached 11,500 [students] for the first time in Dallas ISD history,” said Derek Little, assistant superintendent for early learning.

Little says Dallas has nearly doubled the size of its half day pre-K program for 3 year-olds. In the fall, 50 campuses will offer it.

The district is also expanding its tuition-based pre-K program to 19 campuses. This is for families who don’t meet the federal guidelines for free pre-K.

District officials are expanding pre-K by partnering with child care centers.

“So families who need longer hours or maybe they have a one-year-old and a four-year-old and they just want to have all their children at one place, don’t have to choose something outside Dallas ISD but rather can get the same benefit of a Dallas ISD classroom at the center where they already were,” Little said.

In recent years, school districts have been trying to get more students enrolled in pre-k because of research showing it helps prepare kids for school.

In Dallas, Little said, kids who attended pre-K did better on kindergarten literacy assessments than kids who didn’t.

Here's Fort Worth ISD's pre-K commercial in Spanish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaHmWbdWfgQ

Stella M. Chávez is KERA’s immigration/demographics reporter/blogger. Her journalism roots run deep: She spent a decade and a half in newspapers – including seven years at The Dallas Morning News, where she covered education and won the Livingston Award for National Reporting, which is given annually to the best journalists across the country under age 35.