School’s Cool a solution for B.C. kids. Response to CTV news report

Oct. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Haliburton, ON – October 20th, 2010-
A provincial study, as outlined on CTV news http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca  found that 30 percent of children “don’t have the skills they need when starting school-and many may never catch up.”  The communities of Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows have found a program that dramatically increases the skills of preschoolers to prepare them for entry to kindergarten – it’s School’s Cool.
The Family Education & Support Centre along with Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Community Services have been partnering with their local school district to run School’s Cool programs in the Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows areas since 2005 with much success.  According to Faye Luxemburg-Hyam, Executive Director of Family Education, “We need only to look at our School’s Cool evaluation data to know that we are having an impact on school readiness in our community.”  “School’s Cool is a very proactive program for families! A lot of parents are quite phobic about school -- School’s Cool’s approach to learning and involving parents actually helps change attitudes about school and learning, and that’s good for the whole family” Luxemburg-Hyam adds.
Pre and post testing of 96 children who attended School’s Cool programs in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows showed  overall average developmental skill increases equivalent to 57 weeks.  Skill increases included language, math, social and self-help skills. The program is typically delivered 3 to 4 times a week for 6 to 8 weeks.
Sheena Sharp, Child Development Program Coordinator with Family Education states “Now with full time kindergarten in BC, we want to ensure that the children we serve are ready for school-and School’s Cool really does fit the bill.  School’s Cool has been very successful with the children we serve, many of whom are English language learners.”  Sharpe further states that School’s Cool is a perfect fit for ESL students claiming, “School’s Cool draws ESL children in, gets them involved and helps them learn problem solving, independence, and especially language skills.  The language development we witness is absolutely incredible!”
Weighing in on the issue of kindergarten readiness is Pat Horstead, Assistant Superintendent with School District 36 (Surrey) in British Columbia.  Having herself had direct involvement with the School’s Cool program, Horstead explains, “With School’s Cool’s clearly stated outcomes, objectives, and domains of learning, we could be more intentional about what we were doing with the children.  Because of its skill building activities the children knew what a book was, had some phonemic awareness….ultimately, what it did for our school was it gave us the gift of time.  When kindergarten started it started -- we didn’t lose that first month getting children adjusted to school, they were already there.  We actually gained a month and that will help as we move into full-day kindergarten.”
With full day kindergarten on the horizon for the entire Province, School’s Cool may be the answer to lowering the numbers of children who arrive unready at B.C. kindergartens across the province, ultimately assisting in improving EDI results.
About Us:
School's Cool is a unique 72-hour kindergarten readiness program designed for children from 3 to 5 years of age.  Its curriculum provides a clear connection between specific play experiences and learning outcomes that contribute to success in school. These outcomes are both objective and measurable through the use of our Developmental Checklist© and evaluation process.  Part of the program’s uniqueness is that it can be easily adapted for culture and demographics of participants and the program can be easily integrated in a variety of settings including kindergarten, child care, and community programs.  
Contact Us:
School’s Cool        
Email: info@schoolscool.com
4463 County Road 21, Box 827
Haliburton, Ontario
K0M 1S0
1-888-405-5555
http://www.schoolscool.com

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Schools Cool is a unique 72-hour transition-to-kindergarten program for children from 3 to 5 years of age. This play based program easily adapts for diverse cultures and populations and is customized to fit into any existing early learning programs.