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Tigard-Tualatin highlights early-learning expansion, says pre-K improves readiness
Summary
District presenters described TTSDpre-K expansion—now seven TTSD classrooms including Calapooia Early Learning Center—citing higher reading fluency and attendance for participants and describing enrollment prioritization for families under 400% FPL.
Tigard-Tualatin School District staff on April 6 presented an expanded early-learning (pre-K) program that district leaders say is intended to close readiness gaps and strengthen a seamless pre-K-through-third-grade continuum.
Christina Kurtz, TTSD early learning manager, told the board the district now operates seven pre-K classrooms, including the Calapooia Early Learning Center, and has added staffing and leadership capacity supported in part by OregonPreschool Promise funding. Kurtz said TTSD has prioritized the Pyramid Model to support social-emotional competence and uses a —no wrong door— preschool-interest form to help families navigate multiple providers and wait lists.
Presenters showed district data and parent testimony indicating that children who attended TTSD pre-K scored higher in reading fluency (First Sound Fluency) than similar peers who had not attended pre-K, and that pre-K participants are more likely to be regular attenders. Staff and principals described how pre-K enables vertical alignment between early childhood classrooms and elementary-grade instruction, and how multilingual staff at the Calapooia center support access for Spanish-speaking families.
Several principals and program staff detailed classroom models (full-day and AM/PM part-day options), staffing (18 teachers plus instructional assistants across the program), and supports such as Family Partnership Advocates who connect families to food, clothing, transportation and other resources that remove barriers to attendance and learning.
Directors praised the program as an "upstream" investment that reduces downstream interventions and supports family stability and workforce participation. The presentation also emphasized inclusive practice and partnerships with Head Start, Latino Network and regional special-education providers to prioritize placements for families under 400% of the federal poverty level and those on Head Start wait lists.
The board offered praise but no formal policy vote on expansion at the meeting; the presentation is expected to inform upcoming budget work sessions and longer-term boundary and strategic planning under the districtFuture Forward initiative.
Next steps: staff will share details and continue coordination with community partners and funding sources as planning progresses.
