The kindergarten program provides the foundation for future learning.

• encourage a love for learning in each child
• help each child reach full potential – both academic and personal – through support and development of individual talents and strengths;
• develop and enhance creative thinking and problem-solving skills;
• foster age-appropriate interpersonal skills and encourage social and emotional development;
• develop a solid mastery of the 71 phonograms as the basis for instruction in penmanship, spelling, reading, and writing; and
• prepare the student for the formal study of mathematics, science, history and geography, foreign language, art, and physical education.

Kindergarten Program Curriculum

The full-day kindergarten program teaches each child the basic skills necessary to become successful readers, writers, problem solvers, and independent learners. The program places the greatest emphasis on language arts, with mastery of basic phonetics as the key to reading and spelling proficiency.  Books read independently include the Henry and Mudge and the Mr. Putter collections. Mathematics, science, history and geography, Spanish, music, art, and physical education are integral parts of the kindergarten curriculum as well.  Math concepts taught include counting by 2s, 5s, 10s (using tally marks and number lines,) place value, number formation, and numerical sequences and patterns. Teachers work to establish classroom expectations and goals regarding the children's achievement, effort, and behavior in the classroom and the school.

In addition, numerous special topics and themes of particular interest to young children are explored throughout the year; for example: life cycle of the monarch butterfly, seasonal changes, fire safety, explorers and their maps, Native Americans and their tribes, holiday celebrations, the human body and the five senses (including health and diet), animals in winter, the solar system, plants and wildflowers, insects and spiders, birds, and turtles. Field trips are an important component of the program. These may include: a pumpkin patch and vegetable farm, dairy farm, and Henry Vilas Zoo.

Calendar is a daily morning activity which incorporates both language and mathematical skills. Children learn to read the days of the week and months of the year, in addition to articulating their daily schedule of class activities.

Significantly, the kindergartners finish the year able to read children's literature and write in sentences with proper capitalization and in a clear, neat hand. They finish the year as excited and engaged independent learners.