School to Community Connection
January 1, 2003

HUSD Welcomes Pre-Schoolers!
While the majority of public schools offer education beginning with kindergarten and ending with 12^th grade, the Healdsburg Unified School District has expanded its reach. 

This fall, 34 students entered Fitch Mountain Elementary School’s first pre-school class.  This state subsidized program offers education to pre-school age children of low-income families in Healdsburg who may not otherwise have the means to send their child to a private pre-school.  The curriculum is modeled on the District Immersion Program, which offers instruction in both Spanish (80 percent) and English (20 percent). 

Pre-school classes commence twice daily and funding is based on Average Daily Attendance per student.  Head teacher, Divina Hernandez, two associate teachers and parent volunteers supervise the morning class of 16 students from 8 am-11 am and the afternoon class of 18 students from 12 pm-3 pm.  To help ensure student success, free or reduced lunches are available for the students and each child receives a backpack with weekly assignments for parents and children to tackle together.  This program aims to educate the entire family as Divina and her staff make home visits to encourage families to incorporate learning in their everyday lives.  Potlucks and seminars are offered throughout the year for parents to socialize and further their own education.  The program is so popular that there are currently four students are on the waiting list to register.

Plans to expand!  As soon as the license is approved, two more pre-school classes will open for enrollment at Healdsburg Elementary School.  For more information regarding the HUSD pre-school program, contact Divina Hernandez at 433-3470.

New Parents Needed On District Communications Committee
The HUSD District Communications Committee, which produces this column every other week, needs more parent participants. The committee meets monthly to discuss possible column topics and decide who should research and begin writing them.  We are looking for parents who are truly interested in their child’s school and willing to help get important information out to other parents. Expert writing skills aren’t a requirement since articles are carefully edited before submission to the newspaper. We also need parents who have ideas for topics for future columns. Do you have questions about some areas of the school system that you’d like answers to? Come join our group of school administrators and other parents and work to get information about those topics out to other parents who may have the same questions. For a meeting schedule or more information about our committee, contact Pat Louvau at plouvau@husd.com.