by Kevin Cody
During the Hermosa Beach State of the Schools address last November, Superintendent Jason Johnson used language he knew his Hermosa parents would understand, in underscoring the value of early childhood education.
Children who attend transitional kindergarten are more likely to become homeowners than children who don’t attend transitional kindergarten, he said.
The lesson wasn’t lost on the parents. Hermosa now has five TK classes.
The school district also has begun offering morning and all-day preschool programs.
At the State of the City address, Preschool Director Hannah Ford illustrated the social benefits of childhood education by recalling a parent’s email she received when she began teaching eight years ago. The subject line read “Skydiving.”
“The children had asked me what I did over the spring break, and I showed them a video of me skydiving,” Ford recalled. “I was afraid the parent who sent the email might have thought the video was inappropriate. Instead, the parent told how her child enthusiastically acted out everything he saw in the video. It taught me the role preschool plays in the relationships between students, parents and teachers. And that little moments can have huge impacts.”
Kindergarten, TK meetings
The Hermosa Beach City School District (HBCSD) will hold parent information meetings next Thursday January 18, and the following Thursday, January 25 for parents of new transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students.
The Thursday, January 18 meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Hermosa View School, 1800 Prospect Avenue, Hermosa Beach.
The Thursday, January 25 meeting will be a virtual meeting on Zoom.
To register for either meeting, visit HBCSC.org.
To enroll in the transitional kindergarten program for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, children must turn 5 years old between September 2, 2024 and June 2, 2025.
To enroll in the kindergarten program children must turn 5 years old on, or before September 1, 2024.
Hermosa View Preschool enrollment is open now for children, ages 3- to 4-year sold.
The half day preschool program is from 8 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. The full day program is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Applications are at HBCSD.org.
New student enrollment for upper 1 through 8 opens Friday, January 19. For more information visit at HBCSD.org ER
