Sarasota expands early learning and student-support teams; district launches VPK classrooms, boosts mental-health staffing and school health services

Sarasota County Schools presented a multi-part update on early learning, school health and student support services at Wednesday—s workshop, describing planned expansions to prekindergarten (VPK), increased clinical staffing in school clinics, and scaling up of district mental-health supports.

Early learning and VPK - Conversion and expansion: Director of Early Childhood Tracy Cardenas said the district converted 15 grant-funded general-education and ESE blended preschool programs to offer VPK and added five more VPK classrooms at Atwater, Englewood, Glen Allen and Toledo Blade, bringing the program total to 19 classrooms for the prior year. Board discussion referenced an enrollment figure of about 296 VPK students in the current year. - Professional learning and assessments: Staff said they have trained VPK teachers in early-literacy assessments (FAST/STAR early literacy) and the Brigance developmental inventory; staff reported that the VPK cohort outperformed other learners entering kindergarten on the district—s early…