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Board hears expansion of early-learning services and Cardinal Innovation Center programs
Summary
Clark County Public Schools staff described expansions in early-childhood care and summer programming, capacity increases at the Cardinal's Nest, and program goals at the Cardinal Innovation Center, including virtual, Phoenix and STEM academies.
District staff briefed the board on early-learning expansions, summer care enrollment and services offered at the Cardinal Innovation Center, and described instructional supports used in preschool classrooms.
"We currently have 17 infants enrolled and 19 toddlers," said Gail Ricketts, director of the Cardinal's Nest, adding that enrollment next year is projected "to 20 infants and 23 toddlers" and that a third infant room is scheduled to open in October to address the waiting list. The board learned the district's aftercare and Cardinal's Nest programs are operating at or near capacity for summer sessions and that administrators are evaluating additional classroom capacity at Baker to meet demand.
Jill Blaine, director of early learning, outlined the new summer care schedule and locations: two sessions (May 27'June 27 and June 30'Aug. 1) at preschool, Strode and Baker, with capacity figures presented: preschool at 40 students (with six drop-in slots), Strode at 60 (16 drop-ins) and Baker at 30 (six drop-ins). "Today was our first day of summer care," Blaine said. "It was a great day here, for our opening of summer care."
Presenters described the preschool's adoption of the Pyramid Model, a universal social-emotional framework implemented with coaching and classroom observation cycles. Allison Nelson, a TSS specialist, explained the model's three-tiered approach and a classroom reward system using "bucket fillers" to reinforce respectful, responsible and safe behaviors. "We have a coaching component involved ... the teaching pyramid observation tool," Nelson said, describing short coaching cycles and data-driven classroom observations.
Doctor Lindsey Hale summarized Cardinal Innovation Center outcomes: Cardinal Virtual Academy ended the year with 279 students and a marked increase in applications compared with the prior year; Phoenix Academy reported 76 total students served and 26 graduates, with large average gains on entry-to-exit assessments ("average growth in math was 10 grade levels; in reading, 3.98 grade levels," Hale reported). Hale credited staff and community partnerships for driving those outcomes.
The board did not take formal action on the program descriptions during this presentation, but staff indicated program growth and capacity questions will inform upcoming operational planning and summer work by maintenance and program staff.
