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Kirkwood early-childhood center reports enrollment gains, program expansions
Summary
District staff told the KIRKWOOD R-VII School Board that the Kirkwood Early Childhood Center and its related programs have added classrooms and students since 2020, reduced wait lists for adventure club, expanded summer offerings and adopted new instructional and screening practices tied to state benchmarks.
The KIRKWOOD R-VII School Board heard an overview of the district’s early-childhood programs and strategic objectives during the board’s work session, where school staff reported increases in enrollment, program capacity and screening activity since 2020.
Doctor Rumpus introduced the presentation, saying the board would “begin our first of 4 board work sessions where our school leaders will get to be here and talk through the success that they're experiencing at the school level.” Doctor Bailey and Doctor Rose then described progress at the Kirkwood Early Childhood Center (KECC), including data on classrooms, enrollment and program improvements.
The presentation said KECC added three classrooms since 2020 and increased enrollment by about 60 students. Leaders described program-level changes that include a certified-teacher staffing model in full-day preschool classrooms, a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) with a dedicated school psychologist, added social-work support and safety and traffic-flow changes such as moving pick-up and drop-off to individual classrooms.
Doctor Rose highlighted program-by-program results. Adventure Club, which provides before- and after-school care, reported a 40% enrollment increase overall and a 180% increase in summer enrollment since 2020; staff levels rose about 70% and retention was reported as “well over 85%.” Rose credited Adventure Club leader Jen Hahn with recruitment and staffing changes that reduced the program’s wait list to five students after opening the school year with 23 on the list.
Penny Chastain, coordinator of the Parents as Teachers program, was credited with increases in family visits and developmental screenings. The presentation said the Parents as Teachers program has increased visits by 37% and screenings by 60% since 2020; Rose later detailed year-over-year gains, stating the current year saw a 9% increase in visits and an 8% increase in screenings, with 565 screenings conducted and 103 of those leading to further evaluation.
Staff also described the first-year effects of the certified-teacher model in full-day preschool classrooms. Doctor Rose said the district saw gains on local benchmark assessments (myIGDIs) across rhyming proficiency, sound identification and quantity comparison, including moving many students toward proficiency after tiered interventions: "We had 95 students who had tier 2 interventions; 95 percent of them increased their raw score, and then 65 percent moved up a tier," Rose said.
The presenters noted equity-focused work: the district set aside 27 preschool spots last year for families with limited access and reported those were filled; this year 25 of those spots were filled with two still open. Rose said the district is continuing efforts to diversify staff and to use additional certified staffing and summer stipend days to revise progress reports and align them with the Missouri Early Learning Standards.
Looking ahead, KECC staff identified one action tied to each strategic objective: increasing the number of parent cafés and community meet-ups; reevaluating the KECC wait-list process to reduce barriers tied to residency and birth-date cutoffs; establishing structured supports for adult teaming and team health; and expanding family engagement events inside Adventure Club, including quarterly play-and-stay or STEM events.
Board members praised the staff and asked for follow-up data. Miss Anderson asked for the percent of kindergartners who attended KECC; staff said full-day classrooms at KECC (four sections at KECC and one at Robinson) had about 20 students each and that historically roughly 20% of kindergarteners had attended KECC programs. Several board members asked staff to quantify community need for the reserved preschool spots; Rose said staff would gather additional data through surveys and community outreach. Doctor Rumpus suggested the board could consider capital expansion if the community determines demand justifies adding classrooms.
The board expressed broad support for KECC’s work and asked staff to return with additional data and proposals as the district’s strategic-plan work continues.
Ending: Staff will follow up with requested data on kindergarten participation rates and community demand for reserved preschool slots; the board is expected to consider comprehensive strategic-plan materials at a later meeting.
