As part of their mission to get as many students as possible in Pre-K and provide a quality education to special needs students, officials from Petal Primary School will accept applications for its third Blended Pre-K class from Feb. 1-28.
The free, full-day program will serve 20 four-year-old students, with 40 to 50 percent of those with learning disabilities and the remaining 50 to 60 percent consisting of general education students.
(We want) early intervention with as many of our young students as we can get,” primary school principal Tessa Trimm said. “Ideally, we’re looking to get 40 more students mainstreamed so that they can get that general education diploma and get them graduated.
“Also, our students that have some challenges, they just need more time with their general education peers and more opportunity to learn in that environment.”
Officials’ goal is to have anywhere from six to eight students who have some type of special education needs, whether that be speech issues or developmental delays. Along with that, there will be 12 to 14 “model students,” who are students officials feel would be a good model for their peers.
“So that could be in academics, but it also could just be in social interaction – knowing how to share and get along with others, and just come to school and follow directions,” Trimm said. “It’s not just academic model students. We’re looking for a student that’s just a well-rounded student so that they can be that exemplar.”
Two teachers will be present in the Blended Pre-K classroom: a general education teacher and a special education teacher, both with Pre-K endorsements.
Applications must be completed between February 1-28 at www.petalschools.com. Students must live in Petal and be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1 to be eligible.
Children in the class will participate in a variety of activities designed to stimulate social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth through planned learning experiences.
“(That application deadline) is very important,” Trimm said. “At the end of the day on the 28th, we will close the applications and we won’t take any more applicants.
“We only have 20 spots, and we have that short period of time where we get all the all the applicants in. We make sure we have all the paperwork, and then everyone that applies gets an opportunity to be screened.”
Applications will be reviewed during the first few weeks of March, and the screening will be held on March 29 at the primary school. The screenings will assess vocabulary and foundational skills; parents must choose a screening time when completing the application.
Parents of students selected for the 2022-23 Blended Pre-K class will be notified via email during the week of April 11-15 and given registration information at that time.
“That screening is super important, because we’re looking for students that have any type of developmental delays,” Trimm said. “We’re looking for those model students, and we’re just looking to make sure that we’ve got the right 20 students signed up for this class.
“Once we go through the March 29 screening process, then early in April we’ll notify parents who were selected. Then we’ll walk through the process of getting those students registered for school.”
For more information on the Blended Pre-K program, call the primary school office at (601) 554-7244.
“It’s great (for the students),” Trimm said. “This is our third year to have the program, so we’ve already seen great success the past two years of the class.
“Many of the students have stayed, and have gone into kindergarten inclusion. And it’s just great for our other students who are in the classroom too, because they learn acceptance and they learn that everybody learns a little bit different than they do, but we all reach the same goal. It’s just really important to build that community.”
