RELATED: Champaign County district scores high on state report card
The preschools in Mechanicsburg, Urbana and Triad are ran by the Madison-Champaign Educational Service Center.
The rating is part of the “Step Up to Quality” initiative by the state and is to determine which schools are preparing students for kindergarten. The program is voluntary, and each local school listed by the Ohio Department of Education received a five -star grade.
Springfield Christian School Preschool Coordinator Tonia Snyder said preschool is more than just snack time, play time and story time.
“We build education plans individually,” she said. “We assess each child and we bring them up to kindergarten readiness.”
Parents at Springfield Christian can choose a plan for their student, Snyder said, which includes either half-day or full-day preschool and they can choose if they only want to send their kids three days a week or two.
Breakfast and lunch are free to all students. Snyder said the cost of the school is about $4,000, but the school offers many scholarships and grants. Many students at Springfield Christian are from families below the poverty line, school officials said.
Madison-Champaign EOS Superintendent Dan Kaffenbarger said the reason behind the Champaign county preschool success is the staff.
“Staff from our supervisor to our classroom teachers are all professionals,” Kaffenbarger said. “They are highly qualified.”
He said the curriculum at the schools are varied depending on district, however they are similar in that they get each student prepared for the next grade.
“There is still time for free play and the arts and crafts stuff but there is a larger academic component than there has been in the past,” Kaffenbarger said of preschool.
Preschool is valuable to students, Kaffenbarger said, adding that many kids who attend preschool are socially and academically prepared for kindergarten.
“I think what our school districts are seeing in both Madison and Champaign counties is a large percentage of students that are not ready to learn in kindergarten,” he said. “They lack basic fundamental skills — letters, shapes and numbers.”
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