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Preschoolers will attend school at Mountain Vista School in Oracle.
The Oracle School District is excited to open a new pre-school facility located on the Mountain Vista campus for the 2014/15 school year. The new pre-school is called Mountain Vista Kindergarten Prep. Mountain Vista Kindergarten Prep features expanded hours, a certified teacher as director and will include an exciting new curriculum. The pre-school will occupy two newly renovated state of the art classrooms and will have its own secured playground facility. The pre-school rooms will be equipped with mini computer labs as well as smart boards. The four-year-old program will be taught Theresa Rodriguez who has over 13 years of pre-school teaching experience. The director and three-year-old teacher is Katrina Cassarino who is certified in early childhood education, special education and elementary education.
Students from any school district are welcome to enroll for the program on a fist come, first served basis. Both a morning and afternoon session will be offered four days per week, with no classes on Wednesday. The morning session is from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and is open to four-year-olds and potty trained three-year-olds. An afternoon session from 12:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. is available for four-year-olds only. The pre-school program is tuition based. The rate for four and three-year-old students is $10 per day and there is a minimum of three days attendance per week. Families with financial challenges can possibly qualify for DES reimbursement as well as Quality First scholarships. Breakfast and lunch are not provided to pre-school students but students may bring snacks to school with them. Parents should avoid sending peanuts or peanut based snacks due to severe food allergies of some of our students. Busing will be provided for students that live within the District boundaries. Students must turn the age of their program by Sept. 1 of the current school year.
Quality early education is vital to students’ long term success in school. Children taught at an early age usually benefit in the following ways: improved social skills, less or no need for special education instruction during subsequent school years, better grades, and enhanced attention spans. Likewise, some researchers have concluded that young children enrolled in pre-school programs usually graduate from high school, attend college, have fewer behavioral problems, and do not become involved with crime in their adolescent and young adult years. For more information contact the Oracle School District office at 520-896-3072 or visit our website at www.osd2.org.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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