Kindergarten Boot Camp

Alexandria Program Lays Down Rules, Builds Confidence

K-Prep instructor Tricia Hribar asks Olivia Morton her recollections of fun class activities at Lyles-Crouch. (By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

"Oh boy, we're singing that alphabet,

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

The children bobbed up and down as they belted out the words. A day earlier, the song had been new to them, but now they were experts -- and not just at the alphabet song. They knew to raise their hands before speaking, they knew how to line up to enter and leave a classroom.

Kindergarten -- real kindergarten -- hadn't even started yet. But at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy this week, and at 10 other Alexandria elementary schools, students arrived for their second day of a program -- Kindergarten Prep -- that is designed to ease the transition into kindergarten.

Many schools in the Washington region offer a full day or partial day of orientation to acclimate kindergartners. But this program lasts two weeks, with a different theme of study for each week. It started in two Alexandria elementary schools in 2000 and has expanded into most of the others.

Although it is open to all new kindergartners, it targets the 33 percent of children in Alexandria who have never had any other kind of school experience, such as preschool. Many come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

"Without a preschool experience, children haven't had any practice at what we would call basic school routines," said Cathy David, deputy schools chief. "They're in the big building for the first time, they've never had circle time, never worked at a learning center, never had classroom discussions."

The idea is that rather than being thrust into scary, unfamiliar surroundings with children who are old hands at going to school, they will first gain confidence that will stay with them as they move up through the grades.

The school system reaches out to public housing complexes and parent resource centers to let people know about the program, which is free. Enrollment has expanded every year: There are 342 children this year, up from 237 last year.

The program, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and includes breakfast and lunch, is offered at 11 of the district's elementary schools -- all except the two that operate on year-round calendars. The cost to the district is about $120,000 a year (the cost of one child being held back a grade is about $12,000). The program ends Aug. 18, two weeks before the regular school year begins Sept. 5.

Before it started, "there was a lot of fear -- we had a lot of criers," said Wanda Allen, the program's coordinator. The program "offers them a little boost, an opportunity to become familiar with other kids, and also to give them exposure to teachers."

Added David, "It gave them such a confidence that many were not pulling away on the first day of school," and "it gave them a chance to be in the school all by themselves without the crowds and the things that can be intimidating for 5-year-olds."