ASHLEY TERRY
Families with young children who don’t qualify for free, state-funded pre-kindergarten have a new option through the Azle Independent School District.
Beginning this fall, Azle ISD will offer a tuition-based pre-K program designed for families whose children are ineligible for Texas' free prekindergarten program.
“This will give more opportunities for families to get their child enrolled early to school,” Director of Elementary Curriculum Sheri Welch told The Azle News. “We believe in public education, so if we can get students enrolled at the pre-K level into that school experience, then it provides them with a better educational basis as they start school.”
Welch explained that the district first started discussing a new pre-K option earlier this spring during preparations for the districtwide campus realignment, which will expand all eight elementary campuses to serve students in pre-K through fifth grade this fall.
“With our reconfiguration, we felt like this was a good opportunity because it did open up some more spots in our pre-K program, giving an opportunity for more kids to come to pre-K,” she said.
Before a decision was finalized, district officials also sent out surveys to members of the community to gauge interest in the potential program — and the results were overwhelming.
“When we put our original interest survey out, we had 74 responses from families in the community, so we said, ‘OK, this is something that our community is saying they're needing and that they would want,’ so that's why we proceeded to move forward with it,” Welch said. “We've been seeing a good response.”
Tuition-based pre-K is a full-day program for children who are 4 years old by Sept. 1 and will be offered at every elementary campus except Eagle Heights Elementary School; the campus only offers bilingual pre-K at this time. Welch explained that parents will be able to choose which campus they want their child to attend, however, placement will be determined based on availability.
While the tuition-based pre-K is technically a separate program from the state-funded pre-K, Welch explained they will both operate under the district’s existing model.
“It’ll be one program,” she said. “You wouldn’t know in a class if it’s a tuition-based student or if it’s a student who qualified under the general pre-K guidelines.”
All pre-K classrooms, Welch said, will offer the same curriculum called Frog Street, a research-backed, play-based educational program designed for children ages 0 to 5.
“With pre-kindergarten, one of the things we do is we instruct them through play-based learning,” Welch said. “It’s designed to meet the needs of the young learners in that it is learning through play, and it is learning through their exploration, but it’s also teaching them how to behave, too.”
Welch said one component of Frog Street is conscious discipline, which is an understanding that — just like academics — behavior has to be taught.
“What I love about Frog Street and what we do in our pre-K classrooms is that it's not just about the academics; it is about the social-emotional side of it, too, and the behaviors,” she said. “It's the whole child.”
The goal, Welch said, is that after one year in the pre-K program, children will develop a love for school — or even just a love for Azle ISD, specifically.
“In general, (I hope they find a love for) their school, their class, their culture, their community and good friendships,” Welch said. “I met my best friend that I still have in kindergarten, so just having those opportunities to make friends with the kids that they’ll be going to school with for the next five or six years, I think, is important.”
The tuition-based program will follow the Azle ISD school calendar. School day hours are 7:35 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., with dropoff as early as 7:10 a.m. Breakfast and lunch are available at an extra charge, or a child may bring a sack lunch from home. No district transportation is provided.
To register for the tuition-based pre-K program, families will need to fill out a tuition-based agreement form, show a copy of their child’s birth certificate and pay an initial deposit of $600, which will be credited to the last month’s payment. The annual tuition is $6,000, and payment plans are outlined in the tuition agreement.
While it’s hard to predict enrollment for pre-K, Welch said the district plans to fill the available seats and, if needed, consider implementing a waiting list.
“We are such a community-based school district. We love our families in our district, we try to serve our families and our students, and I think it's all about making a difference to every child, every chance, every day — that's what we strive for,” Welch added. “I think this is a great opportunity for our students and for our community so I do hope people take advantage of it if they can.”
Cash and check payments can be made in person at the AISD Administration Building, 301 Church St. Payments by card can be made online through RevTrak, but there will be a service charge of 4.16%. Original birth certificates can be brought to the same location Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Although all initial deposits and birth certificates are due by Tuesday, July 21 to secure a spot, Welch added the school district plans to evaluate enrollment and will continue to allow registrations as space is available. Any family still interested in tuition-based prekindergarten after July 21 can go to the district’s central registration event Friday, July 23 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Azle High School, 1200 Boyd Road.
Learn more at azleisd.net/article/302/2229 or complete your intent to enroll and tuition agreement form at tinyurl.com/AzlePreK.
