Rocklin schools offering growing, full-day TK program ahead of statewide goal
Transitional kindergartens are gaining steam across the state, and one district in the capital region is among those leading the shift.
Rocklin Unified School District is one of a handful of school districts in California now offering a full-day program for 4-year-olds. And enrollment is right around the corner.
Publicly funded transitional kindergarten is growing across California. In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 130, a $2.7 billion initiative to expand transitional kindergarten, also known as pre-kindergarten, to all 4-year-olds.
Transitional kindergarten is intended to provide a pre-kindergarten experience for California 4-year-olds that “blends social and emotional experience with academic learning,” according to a fact sheet from policy advocates Early Edge California.
Although some of the state’s largest districts already offer expanded transitional kindergarten, experts say making a year of pre-kindergarten available to all is a watershed achievement in early education.
“After lagging behind other states, California suddenly leads the nation in expanding quality preschool,” said Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley.
The state is phasing in the program, with tens of thousands of California 4-year-olds set to attend class in the fall. It is expected to be fully operational by fall 2025, with every California 4-year-old eligible.
California, which has almost 3 million children under the age of 5, has trailed behind other states in terms of access to early education, with only 37% enrolled in transitional kindergarten and the state’s subsidized preschool program.
“It took 20-plus years and countless others pushing hard, and I’m beyond thrilled that California will now offer universal pre-K for all 4-year-olds via our transitional kindergarten program,” said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, a longtime champion of TK. “This action will change the trajectories for our youth for generations to come.”
Full day TK program in Placer County
In Rocklin, transitional kindergarten has been in place for at least the last eight years and has grown to all 14 elementary campuses, said Bill MacDonald, associate superintendent of elementary education.
At present, the state only requires a three-hour program, but Rocklin Unified offers a five-and-a-half-hour program at its campuses.
“We realized early on it’s a benefit of students and parents to have a full instructional day,” he said. “For students, if the program structure is right, it gives the teacher many more opportunities to expose the students to learning and play activities.”
Knowing that these are the state’s youngest students, MacDonald said classes start slowly to help acclimate new pupils to a school schedule. Classes are shortened for the first six weeks and then extend to the full five-and-a-half-hour school day.
“It’s very play-based,” MacDonald said. “We take into account that they’re very little so the activities focus on building things, exploring, singing, dancing. It’s much more than you might think of school learning for these youngsters.”
Enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year opens Jan. 22. It’s open to families within the district who have a child turning five between Sept. 2, 2024, and June 2, 2025.
The average class size in the Placer County district TK classes is about 20 students, MacDonald said, and every class has a teacher and aide.
Parents of prospective TK and incoming kindergarten students can RSVP for an in-person session about the program Jan. 24 at one of the district’s campuses on the district’s website.
Karen D’Souza of EdSource, a nonprofit news collaborative on education in California, contributed to this story.
