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Date: 4/7/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD — A “Kindergarten Kickoff” event on April 13 will help incoming kindergarten students and their families navigate the transition to public school.
From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., families are encouraged to visit West Springfield High School, 425 Piper Road. The event is open to all families with incoming kindergarten students, along with families interested in Cowing preschool.
West Springfield schools Curriculum Director Neil Gile said, “Families will have the opportunity to meet school admin, kindergarten teachers, register, and get information about before and after school care, and community resources. Stations will be set up for families to browse and ask questions. There will be an enrollment area to register with translation support and assistance.”
Due to COVID-19, West Springfield has not been able to host an in-person kindergarten information event for the past two years.
Gile said the School Department felt it was necessary to host this event because it wants to “build strong partnerships and relationships as part of our district strategic objectives.” He added that it is a commitment on the district’s end to begin those connections early in the family’s schooling experience.
Families that cannot attend the event and would like information about the resources provided can contact Rebecca Burgos at 495-1863 or email rburgos@wsps.org. For enrollment information and questions, contact Trinity Vargas, 263-3388 or tvargas@wsps.org.
To get kids and their families ready for kindergarten, Gile said parents should be reading to their kids and talking about the story.
“Talking about the experience to get their excitement levels up is beneficial as well,” said Gile. “Speaking positively and removing any anxiety is significant, because they follow [adults’] lead.”
He went on to say, “We have an amazing kindergarten program at both John Ashley and Coburn, so the parents can rest easy knowing that their loved ones will have an amazing experience; therefore, do not stress about having your kid(s) going to school.”
Gile noted that the town’s current kindergarten enrollment is 246 students. In 2020-21, there were 259 kindergartners, and in 2019-20, there were 279. Projected numbers for 2022-23 are not yet available.
“One of the reasons we are doing the Kindergarten Kickoff event is to better understand the numbers for the coming year,” said Gile. “I do think that we will see an uptick in the numbers due to the lessening of COVID[-19] restrictions.”
Enrollment will have an impact on staffing, particularly this fall, when West Springfield plans to take its first step toward moving kindergarten classrooms to neighborhood schools. A new and larger Coburn School will open for 2022-23, with two or three additional kindergarten classes. All kindergartners from the neighborhoods served by Coburn will enroll in the new school.
“Certain teachers from John Ashley will be reassigned to Coburn,” Gile said. “We are planning to move three sections of kindergarten from John Ashley to Coburn to accommodate for the increased number of kindergarten students within the Coburn neighborhood. As of this moment, the three teachers from John Ashley will be transferred to Coburn. This is subject to change depending on enrollment.”
Gile said other than the Coburn move, he does not expect any major changes to kindergarten for 2022-23.
Kindergartners from outside the Coburn neighborhoods will continue to attend the town-wide kindergarten center at John Ashley School, though administrators’ long-term plan is to also move those classrooms to the town’s other four elementary schools, which currently serve grades 1-5.