Island Park approved for full-day pre-K

Island Park’s full-day pre-kindergarten will start Sept. 29, thanks to a grant from the New York State Education Department.

On Aug. 18, the Island Park school district was informed that it would receive a $600,000 grant for a full day pre-K. Since grantees for the 2014-15 school year must have a program ready this year, the district plans to set up the program as soon as possible. This includes purchasing equipment, organizing transportation, hiring teachers and arranging an after school-program with Little Seashell Nursery, a local nursery school.

“This couldn’t have happened at a worse time, I have to be honest with you,” said Superintendent Rosmarie Bovino, explaining that the beginning of the school year is extremely busy. “But you know the old saying, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’? … I know districts that also got the money and refused the money because it was at the last minute, and they said, ‘There’s no way I can do this on such short notice.’”

Bovino made her comments at a parent meeting at the school district’s Conference Center on Sept. 4, where she explained the curriculum and answered questions, while members of her staff collected applications. About 80 people attended the meeting.

“Last year I had to pay for [my son] to go to school,” said one parent, Elizabeth Anderson. “He’s in a school right now that we’re paying for. But if this works, it works for me. It’s all about saving that money.”

Island Park children who will turn 4 by Dec. 1 are eligible for the program. Because the state grant requires a pre-K program to run five days a week, five hours a day, the current plan is for classes to be in session from Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I can’t wait for my daughter to start,” said another parent, Carolyn Leach. “She was going to go to a program that was only two and a half hours a day, three days a week, so this [is better].”

The classes will be held in Lincoln Orens Middle School, which has classrooms with bathrooms and a small playground.

Nineteen other Nassau County School districts already have universal pre-K programs that depend on various sources, including the state, for funding. Thanks to the state initiative, four schools will have full-day programs.