Harvard Avenue School is pleased to officially announce a small kindergarten class beginning fall 2008. We have decided to offer this class as a result of some of our own wonderful students not being admitted to their desired kindergarten program and feeling unhappy with the public school options available to them. We feel this program will fill a need in the community and we are having positive response from parents who are pleased to have a new option and school administrators who feel that this will fill a void in the community.

Being part of a new kindergarten will also be a tremendous opportunity for parents to be involved in planning the program; we would love your feedback! As we continue with our plans please be sure to let us know how we can develop the best kindergarten program possible for your children.

Andrea Wallner, Barb Haag, and I will be planning and implementing this program and we feel extremely confident in what we will offer based on our amazing combined experience.

Andrea W. and Barb have more than 25 years combined experience teaching pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade and are both very knowledgeable about the kindergarten programs that are offered by the local independent and public schools. In addition to teaching preschool and opening and operating Harvard Avenue School toddler through pre-kindergarten programs, Andrea Losh taught first grade and participated in testing for children applying to enter kindergarten at Schools of The Sacred Heart in San Francisco . Between the three of us and our experience we feel that your children will have an amazing kindergarten year; we are so excited get started and exceed your expectations!

The following are an answer to some initial questions you may have about our program:

Will your child be able to enter first grade at a public or private school in fall 2009?

Yes, your child will be prepared to enter first grade if this is your intention for him/her. We know from talking to some parents that they might consider a second year of kindergarten at an independent school; this will be a personal choice but we will be teaching with the presumption that everyone is going into a first grade level in fall 2009. Barb will give you more information about what academic benchmarks she will meet, but schools such as Bush, Bertschi, Epiphany, Valley, Spruce Street School, and Seattle Country Day School have expressed their gratitude to us for offering a kindergarten program and have explained that just as any kindergarten applicant, for entry into first grade they will look at the abilities of the child, the strengths children display on a visit, and the evaluation of the child's teacher when considering applicants.

Most schools have said they usually take 1-3 kids a year in first grade based on families moving away, switching to public school, etc. but they also have many fewer applicants for this grade level so chances of being accepted are probably equivalent or better to the competition applying to kindergarten. Also, many schools work hard to accommodate families that they were unable to accept but truly loved when they applied the prior year; you have likely built relationships in the kindergarten application process that will help you when you apply to a first grade program.

What creative opportunities will the children have?

We have not confirmed our schedule for specialists for fall 2009 and but we are certain we are providing some or all of the following: we will offer French and music weekly as well as a movement class once a week (yoga or dance). We may also offer Spanish in addition to French. We are also planning to have a visiting art teacher come on a regular basis to offer a “studio art” component to complement the everyday art Barb tends to work into her curriculum. Also, we may on occasion or on a regular basis (depending on if the program is exciting to the children) have a fine art expert come in educate the children on fine art.

What are the days/times/cost?

We are planning on 180 days of school; this will roughly match the preschool/pre-kindergarten calendar but may vary a small amount (to meet kindergarten standards). The program is five days a week and the children attend for a five-hour day. We have an 8:40 start and a 1:40 pick up for the base program and propose an extended day program from 1:40 to 2:40 daily for those of you that are interested in this option. The cost is $1050/month for the 2009-2010 school year for the five hour morning class.

What is the application process?

For families not already a part of or community the process is as follows:

• Fill out an application form (no fee)
• Observe our current school programs if you are unfamiliar with our teaching style and would like to learn more
• Schedule a morning visit for your child to join our pre-kindergarten class so that Barb, Andrea W., and Andrea Losh can get to know him/her
• Shorty after your child's visit the staff will make an enrollment decision and an enrollment deposit will be required if you choose to accept a space in the class

We are anxious to know the make up of our fall class so we encourage interest families to begin the application process as soon as possible. We are accepting initial applications between April 21st and May 30thand will schedule our earliest child visits for the week of May 5 – 9th. The class capacity is currently eight children, so we currently have room for four children to join the class (based on four children staying from within our school) but we may be expanding into a larger space allowing us to enroll a class of up to 16. After initial decisions are made children who apply later to the program will be placed on kindergarten wait list.