Transitioning From Transition

One thing I have always said is that people have a right to contradict themselves.  We may start out with one set of beliefs or convictions, when suddenly we find that experience and time has crept in and our mindset has changed.  For example, I remember all those parenting declarations I made before having children. “My kid will never use a pacifier.” “I will only feed my child organic food and use cloth diapers.”  I had all the books, assertiveness, and ignorance to support my statements.  Then along came the child number one, two and three and a lot of those convictions went out the window as fast as the pacifier went in the mouth.  Fast food nuggets have become a weekly staple.  My husband and I have learned to make exceptions for the small stuff while hanging onto the big priorities that matter.

But what really happened here?  Life happened.  Things changed, we got tired, more stressed out, more accommodating.  We became a little less definitive about our parenting style and a little more tolerant of others.  We had to be willing to change to make our new normal work. 

Like a first time parent, the Windham School District has stood steadfast behind its transition program since 1968.  Transition is a year of school between kindergarten and first grade designed to meet the needs of children chronologically age 6 by September 30, but developmentally age 5 - 5 1/2.  Because Windham had no public kindergarten prior to 2009, children entering first grade underwent several screening procedures to determine their placement.  The District had up to three transition classrooms for children requiring a more developmentally appropriate setting.

Now that we have public kindergarten, the District has reduced the number of transition classrooms to one class consisting of 13 boys and 3 girls.  A final decision about whether or not to phase out transition will be made after seeing how children who would have been flagged for transition perform at higher grade levels.  An interesting observation was made by former Assistant Superintendent Roxanne Wilson in her January 2011 report to the School Board.  She wrote, “The intent of educators who endorse transitional programs is to help children entering first grade, but in all other grades, we accept each child at whatever academic level they are- there are no transitional classes for other grades. If students come to our schools, educators work from an aspect of growth, and they take the students from where they are to a new level through a variety of instructional strategies.”

With public kindergarten being offered as part of our “new normal”, can the District let go of what it has deemed important and necessary for so long?  The schools are working to implement intervention strategies to meet the needs of students who may have otherwise benefited from a transitional year.  In fact, these strategies are being implemented at all elementary grade levels.  Once in place, we may be able to successfully transition away for transition, and begin to meet the developmental needs of all of our students.