Early Childhood Center principal reports enrollment, literacy and social‑emotional gains
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Summary
Principal Dr. Kimmy Andrews told the board the Early Childhood Center has grown from 82 to roughly 160–170 students, reported winter assessment gains in language/literacy and social‑emotional measures, and described coaching, curriculum and family engagement efforts.
Dr. Kimmy Andrews, principal of the Early Childhood Center, told the Excelsior Springs School District Board of Education that enrollment at the center has risen from 82 students at the start of her tenure to about 160–170 this school year.
Andrews said the center used the project approach in preschool classrooms and presented assessment snapshots showing improvements from fall to winter across language and literacy domains and most cognitive measures. “We did have a rise from our fall to winter data,” she said. She identified one area — a cause‑and‑effect cognition measure — where winter scores did not advance and said teachers are targeting that skill.
The nut graf: the presentation framed expanded capacity and curriculum changes — including Hegarty materials and CLASS‑based coaching — as part of a strategy to improve kindergarten readiness while maintaining attention to social‑emotional development.
Andrews told the board the district is piloting or adopting several supports: all full‑day teachers will receive classroom coaching under the Missouri Quality Programs grant (MOQPK) being used for four‑year‑olds; the center uses PBIS and Conscious Discipline for behavior support; and Clay County Children’s Fund dollars support coaching and mental‑health staff on campus. “We have a person who is dedicated to come and work with us. She provided a Conscious Discipline certified instructor and that's also been game changing,” Andrews said.
She highlighted family engagement events — for example, combined parent/caregiver trainings where parents receive parallel instruction while children receive activities — and summer screening and recruitment plans. Andrews said about one‑third of the Early Childhood Center’s students will enter kindergarten the next school year, but clarified that across the district preschools overlap (for example, Head Start, Treehouse, Imagination Station and the district center) and the ECC does not account for the majority of the district’s full kindergarten cohort.
Board members asked for data tying ECC enrollment to district kindergarten cohorts; Andrews said a rough estimate is that about a third of ECC students will move to kindergarten through district schools but that she could not give an exact districtwide percentage without pulling enrollment lists.
Ending: Andrews thanked the board for support and noted additional family events and summer screening to support recruitment and transitions into kindergarten.
