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Ferndale Early Childhood Center outlines enrollment growth, attendance plan and lending-library expansion
Summary
Director Heidi Schmidt told the board the Early Childhood Center converted two tuition classrooms to GSRP five-day classrooms, is operating on wait lists, and has expanded classroom lending libraries to all 11 classrooms; staff-level restorative practices and a three-tier attendance plan were also described.
Heidi Schmidt, director of the Ferndale Early Childhood Center, told the school board on Nov. 18 that the building is expanding programs to meet rising community demand and focusing on staff practices and attendance strategies to improve readiness for kindergarten.
Schmidt said the center converted two tuition-based classrooms to Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) five-day classrooms and is "running on waitlists," signaling unmet community demand for preschool seats. She said staff now build regular vision reviews into meetings and use monthly team check-ins and staff-level restorative-practice cohorts so adults can address disagreements and stay focused on the center's vision.
The presentation emphasized family communication and instructional intent: weekly director emails, posted lesson plans outside classrooms, classroom weekly newsletters, home-visit assessments and resources for parents. On attendance, Schmidt outlined a three-tier model: universal engagement to make families want to attend; personalized outreach and planning for families showing early warning signs; and wraparound services for students with chronic absenteeism. She cited research that preschoolers missing 10% or more of the year arrive at kindergarten with lower readiness levels.
The board heard that the center has strengthened partnerships and professional supports: monthly STEM lessons delivered by the district technology specialist, monthly story time from the Ferndale Area District Library, a young-athletes program with Life Lab and Special Olympics, and transition trainings with Oakland Schools for early-on special education to pre-K placement.
Schmidt introduced a district-supported classroom lending-library initiative, funded with grant support, that provides around 150 diverse, high-quality books to each classroom for families to borrow. GSRP lead teacher Nina Thomas said the program has been "a really awesome addition to our curriculum," describing weekly checkouts, a digital checkout tool and classroom rotations that let students borrow books and expose families to new titles.
The superintendent and board members praised the work and asked for follow-up on attendance metrics and transition training outcomes. Schmidt said the building will continue peer observation, monthly data digs and planned professional learning to ensure data alignment and reliability across classrooms.
Board members said they welcome continued updates as the district implements these early-childhood changes.
