Welcome to the FWISD Early Childhood Department
Mission Statement
All FWISD early childhood classrooms support opportunities for students' optimal social and emotional development and offer cognitive learning experiences that help prepare students for successful academic achievement throughout their school careers. Further, early childhood classrooms offer enrichment opportunities in music, art and drama to encourage students' creativity and their enjoyment of fine arts.
The Early Childhood Department also supports the value of families and child care providers as important "first teachers" of young children through its programs such as Parents As Teachers and the Early Literacy Program.
Contact Info:
Patricia Rangel - Program Director, Early Childhood
EMAIL: [email protected] PHONE: 817-871-3097 FAX: 817-871-3099
Julie Miers - Coordinator, Parents As Teachers Program
EMAIL: jmier@fortworthisd.net PHONE: 817-871-2562 FAX: 817-871-3099
Veronica Diehnelt - Early Childhood Specialist/Ready Start
EMAIL: vdieh@fortworthisd.net PHONE: 817-871-3091 FAX: 817-871-3099
Penny Stephens- Early Childhood Specialist
EMAIL: pstep@fortworthisd.net PHONE: 817-852-1150 FAX: 817-871-3099
Services and Programs:
- Fort Worth ISD currently serves 3,700 four-year old students in full-day pre-kindergarten programs located on 65 elementary campuses. Full-day kindergarten programs serve 6,500 five-year-old students on 72 elementary campuses. There are currently 50 Bilingual/ESL prekindergarten classes in FWISD. The Early Childhood Department works closely with the Bilingual/ESL Department in order to provide the most appropriate services possible for prekindergarten students. Staff development and curriculum are closely aligned with English-only prekindergarten programs to provide consistency of services for all children in the district. FWISD also operates the Ready Start program on 16 campuses. Ready Start is a collaboration between FWISD and Head Start to serve four-year-old pre-K students on school campuses. Ready Start children enroll in both the public school pre-K program and the Head Start program, which enables children and their families to receive services from both programs.
- Parents As Teachers serves district families with parenting information and activities to enhance development of families' infants to four-year-olds. Parent Resource Centers on school campuses serve as a transition between the PAT families and the prekindergarten programs offered by the school district. PAT Resource Centers on campuses provide opportunities for PAT Group Meetings which provide informational speakers for parents and offer child development resource materials and developmentally appropriate educational toys and books for families to check out and use to home.
- The FWISD Early Literacy Program offers a "bridge" from the school district and its prekindergarten program to the area childcare community (including both childcare centers and family group providers). Parent educators utilize "Mobile Literacy Vans" to travel to childcare centers and group family homes where the educators deliver training to care providers. The Parent Educators offer guidance to child care directors and care providers as well as interaction with the young children themselves. "Lessons" are modeled for the care givers which focus on providing emergent literacy experiences for children aged birth to preschool. Informational handouts from the Parents As Teachers program about child development and other areas of parental interest are given to the care providers to pass on to the children's parents. Appropriate toys and books on the Literacy Van are offered to the care providers on a month-to-month checkout basis for use in their centers. Additionally, evening workshops are offered to child care providers to provide them with more early literacy training. This program has served as an important informational tool for early childcare providers as children in their facilities move from childcare into public school.
- The FWISD Early Childhood Department chairs a collaboration of local agencies which deal with young children called the Early Childhood Intervention Task Force. This task force seeks to bring agencies' services for preschool children into close alignment with the Fort Worth ISD early childhood program, specifically prekindergarten. Members meet bimonthly and address such issues as quality childcare initiatives, family involvement, and provision of appropriate health services for all young children in the area.
What's New?
- This year the Early Childhood Department spearheaded an expansion of the Fort Worth ISD pre-k program into 8 additional campuses which previously did not offer the pre-k program. This brings to 65 the number of campuses in the district that offer the pre-k program to eligible four-year-old preschoolers. Total number of FWISD pre-k students served this year has increased by almost 1,000.
- "Ready Start," a collaboration between FWISD and Head Start, was formed this year to offer preschool services to more area Fort Worth children at school campuses. Almost 700 pre-k students are currently served in the "Ready Start" program.
- Staff development for FWISD pre-k and kindergarten teachers this year has focused on including more training on the fine arts programs in early childhood classrooms. Early childhood teachers have become more knowledgeable in ways to implement music and art activities in their classrooms.
- Additionally, FWISD kindergarten teachers have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in high-quality math and science staff development at River Legacy Science Center in Arlington.
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