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Urbandale preschool director highlights inclusive classrooms and student outcomes
Summary
Preschool director Ashley Myers told the board the district serves about 214 preschoolers with half‑ and full‑day options, wraparound care, inclusive classrooms and partnerships with Saint Pius and Cadence; winter checkpoint assessments showed high rates of students meeting or exceeding benchmarks in literacy, math and social‑emotional learning.
Ashley Myers, Urbandale’s preschool director, summarized the district’s early‑childhood offerings and recent outcomes during the board meeting on April 20.
Myers said Urbandale operates half‑day and full‑day preschool options at Webster, Valerius and Olmsted, including wraparound and before‑and‑after‑school care. She reported the program served approximately 214 children this year and noted partnerships with Saint Pius and Cadence that extend the statewide voluntary preschool option to their students.
On assessments, Myers told the board that at the winter checkpoint roughly 90% of preschool students were meeting or exceeding in literacy, 88% in math and 86% in social‑emotional learning. She also cited fall kindergarten FAST scores showing 78% of children who attended Urbandale preschool met or exceeded reading benchmarks versus 56% of students who did not attend Urbandale preschool (the latter group may have attended other preschools or none at all).
Myers described the district’s use of the Creative Curriculum, a handwriting program, Go Math and observation‑based assessment tools; teachers run checkpoints three times per year. She and classroom staff described strategies to make learning visible for children, to support ELL and special education inclusion in gen‑ed classrooms, and to prepare preschoolers for kindergarten.
Myers said she will share slides and videos from classrooms with board members after the meeting.
These remarks were presented early in the meeting and were followed by the public comment period on unrelated agenda items.
