Students who attend Corpus Christi ISD pre-K prepared for kindergarten

As Corpus Christi ISD expands early childhood education programs, all eyes are on kindergarten to see the academic results.

Between 2013-14 and 2019-20, CCISD's pre-K headcount was between 1,160 and 1,274 students. After a steep drop in 2020-21, to 840 students, focus shifted to ramping up pre-K enrollments, rising to 1,053 in 2021-22, 1,585 in 2022-23 and more than 2,000 this year.

Also last year, the district revamped curriculum, focusing on experiential learning, and began offering pre-K to 3-year-old students.

"Our prekindergarten program is flourishing," coordinator for elementary instruction and library media services Cynthia Hernandez told the CCISD Board of Trustees on Monday evening.

According to data collected at the beginning of the school year, kindergarten students who attended CCISD pre-K last year performed better on reading assessments.

Of students who attended CCISD pre-K, 23% scored above grade level on reading at the start of the year, 22% scored on-level, 23% scored below grade level and 32% scored well below grade year.

In comparison, of students who did not attend CCISD pre-K, only 14% scored above grade level, 15% scored on-level, 18% scored below grade level and over half, 53%, scored well below grade level.

"When students enter school ready for kindergarten, teachers can teach grade-level standards rather than spending time and energy providing intensive interventions to bring students up to grade-level before they enter first grade," Hernandez said.

Hernandez said that early childhood education is important because much of brain development occurs before the age of 5.

"Our early years are the best opportunity for our child's brain to develop all those connections that they need to be capable, healthy, successful adults," Hernandez said. "The connections needed for many important, higher-level abilities like motivation, self-regulation, problem-solving and communication, all of those things are formed in these early years.

In Texas, public schools must offer free pre-K for students who meet certain eligibility requirements. This includes children who are unable to speak and comprehend English, are economically disadvantaged, are homeless, are the child of an active member of the U.S. armed forces, are the child of a member of the armed forces who was injured or killed while serving on active duty, have ever been in foster care or are the child of a person who is eligible for the Star of Texas Award, including peace officers, firefighters and emergency medical first responders.

These criteria cover a large portion of the CCISD community. Of the more than 2,000 current pre-K students, 1,691 are eligible for free pre-K.

"A majority of our students in pre-kindergarten have some challenges to overcome," Hernandez said. "They fact that we have data that looks like this really does show that our efforts by the teachers and paraprofessionals are really, really paying off in our kindergarten students. And next year, I'll have first grade data."

An additional 48 students are the children of CCISD employees and offered a discounted tuition rate.

Additionally, 184 pre-K students are also special education students.

Over the past year, CCISD has been touting its curriculum model, which focuses on learning and growing through purposeful play.

"You're not just putting them in a care center, you're getting certified teachers at CCISD," Superintendent Roland Hernandez said.

The CCISD pre-K staffing model includes certified teachers in the classroom.

"I'm so pleased that our youngsters now have the ability to engage with professional, certified people," Trustee Alice Upshaw Hawkins said.

The district has space for about 80 additional students right now in current classrooms. Some campuses are at capacity for pre-K, but there are spots available at other campuses.

Families can sign up for pre-K online at any time at https://enrollment.ccisd.us/. For more information, call 361-695-7242.

Want to learn more about pre-K in Corpus Christi ISD? Here's how.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi ISD touts impact of pre-K on student learning