Pointing Children in the Right Direction

            When I took the reins as Director of Elementary Services for Onslow County Schools on July 1^st, one of the first things that I received from our Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services, Lesley Eason, was a notebook entitled "North Carolina Ready Schools Initiative". 

She informed me that this was a major project in the works at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and that I should get a handle on it.  I thanked her and put it aside while I organized my office.

            Over the next few months, I became inundated by a steady stream of e-mails about Ready Schools, joined the K-2 list serve, and received another array of electronic correspondence about Best Practices and research documents on school readiness.  At that point, I frantically searched for that notebook Mrs. Eason had brought me weeks earlier.  Fortunately, I found it in a copy paper box marked, "IMPORTANT":

            According to the online publication, FYI@DPI, the Ready Schools Initiative is an innovative program that prepares schools and children in grades pre-K through 3^rd grade for 21^st century success.

Most adults remember their elementary school experience as a happy one, where staff welcomed students with smiles and hugs.  The Ready Schools Initiative examines the best practices of Pre-K/elementary administrators and educators, and enhances those practices to meet the needs of 21st century students. It is an initiative that is catching on nationwide. North Carolina is the only state that has formally adopted it and is developing an action plan to introduce it more thoroughly to administrators and teachers.

 Carolyn Guthrie, director of NCDPI's Early Childhood/Elementary Council, emphasizes that, "The Ready Schools Initiative is not another program to implement, but a way to improve and expand on practices that already exist."  NCDPI's Early Childhood/Elementary Council is addressing the challenges of implementing this initiative statewide. The council's implementation plan will rely on collaborative efforts across agency divisions and partnerships with external organizations,"

Carolyn said, "Our goal is to use these collaborations and partnerships to ensure that all North Carolina elementary schools will be ready to meet the needs of all children that come through their doors."   Ready Schools are important to our communities because the lack of ready elementary schools has a financial impact. In 2001-02, 22,343 North Carolina students in grades K-3 were retained at a cost of more than $170 million for an extra year of instruction. In addition, at-risk students who participate in high quality Pre-K programs may lose ground in learning without a sustained focus and appropriately aligned instruction from kindergarten through elementary school.

A Ready School provides an inviting atmosphere, values and respects all children and their families, and is a place where children succeed. A Ready School is committed to high quality in all domains of learning and teaching and has deep connections with parents and its community. A Ready School prepares children for success in work and life in the 21st century.  Benefits for schools that adopt the Ready Schools Initiative could include higher promotion rates and academic achievement among students, more community participation, and better parental involvement. (FYI@DPI 2008).

As the former Principal of Jacksonville Commons Elementary School, I knew that we needed to put transition goals into our strategic plan.  My objective for pre-K and kindergarten focused on having the pre-schoolers come over in vans in late May, tour the hallways, and eat lunch quickly.  (Hey, I had 800 other kids to feed in two hours).  I think that I also put something in there about ensuring that enough forms were printed out during the county-wide kindergarten registration days to make the process easier for my SIMS Data Manager, Nurse, and parents.

(From time to time as I glance through the OCS elementary strategic plans and see the quality of transition plans that have been formulated, I am embarrassed regarding my feeble attempts).  An example of an innovative type of Ready School event was held recently at Northwoods Elementary called "The Avenues of Learning".  Guests could visit various rooms with intriguing themes such as "Author's Avenue", "Junior Classics Court", and "Transition Boulevard".