Preschool program gets ready to grow

Deirdre Newman

The district’s preschool at the Harper Education Center is gearing

up for a major expansion and change in its instruction that will

place it at the vanguard of preschool education in the state.

The site, which now serves about 60 special education students, is

preparing for an onslaught of new students next year. Thanks to a

state grant, the site will take on 240 mainstream preschoolers in

early February.

The addition will benefit both groups of students, as the site

will offer various instructional options including some “blended”

classrooms, where special ed students and their mainstream

counterparts will be integrated.

The district is the first in the county and one of the first in

the state to use the blending approach, said Lorie Hoggard, director

of early childhood education.

“The children will be much better prepared for kindergarten and

the experience that they’ll have with their peers,” Hoggard said.

The State Preschool Grant, which the district found out it

qualified for in August, provides funding for an extra 288

preschoolers. In addition to the 240 at the Harper Preschool, the

grant will also cover 48 preschoolers who are now at Wilson

Elementary School.

The Preschool Intervention Program for special education students

has been at the Harper site for the past three years, Hoggard said.

It serves students from age 3 until kindergarten who have been

diagnosed with conditions such as speech delay and autism.

The three options the expanded preschool will provide are: some

classrooms with only state preschool staff with a few special

education kids; some “blended” classrooms with a state preschool

teacher and a special education teacher with 14 mainstream kids and

up to six special education students; and classrooms with only a

special education teacher and all special education students.

This will allow the preschool to provide the best possible

environment for the special education students, Hoggard said.

“They will experience the typical preschool experience as much as

possible, infused with the right type of support to overcome any

barriers created by their disability,” Hoggard said.

The interaction between the two groups will be enhanced by reverse

mainstreaming -- having the mainstream students visit the special

education classrooms instead of the other way around, which is

typical in most elementary schools.

Preparing for the “blending” process is fostering a new spirit of

cooperation and teamwork among the preschool staff, said Gladys

Green, preschool co-director.

“We’re having to think outside of our little box,” Green said. “We

have a really good team of people committed to this project. And

we’re learning from each other.”

The “blending” philosophy is so cutting-edge that it enticed Cindy

Stewart to leave her position as assistant superintendent of the

Moreno Valley Unified School District to come to the preschool as

Green’s co-director.

“I wanted to work with the blended program, which is so innovative

it should have been done a long time ago,” Stewart said.

Preschool officials are even considering installing a two-way

mirror in one of the “blended” classrooms so it can be used as a

demonstration lab, Hoggard said.

Before any of the new students move in, though, there is a lot of

work to be done to the site, including applying fresh paint,

expanding the playground, supplying the classrooms with furniture and

materials and moving the preschool office to the front of the

building.

“I’m looking forward to that first day when the kids come off the

bus and see the beautiful environment here,” Green said.