Register early in San Benito for Pre-K

SAN BENITO — During the next couple of months, parents will be able to get a jump on registering their children for school.

Specifically, parents of pre-kindergarten students.

The district will be working cooperatively and in partnership with NINOS, Inc. (Neighbors in Need of Services, Incorporated) Head Start/Early Start Program in providing a high-quality full-day pre-kindergarten education for early learners. Offering pre-kindergarten all day is a new initiative offered through a newly-established house bill and grant.

In 2015, House Bill 4 was passed by the Texas Legislature and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. HB 4 establishes additional state support for high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, including authorization for a grant program.

As a child’s first experience in a structured setting with teachers and groups of children, pre-kindergarten provides early learners a solid foundation for gaining knowledge, following instructions, and sharing.

In July, Julie Trevino, the district’s executive director for academic services explained why this all-day program is beneficial to students.

“San Benito CISD understands the need to provide this foundation during a child’s formative years and with that in mind, our district is extremely excited about offering a full-day pre-kindergarten experience at all of our elementary campuses,” said Trevino.

“In some cases, we have two classrooms per campus,” she added.

As a main aspect of the district’s future strategic plan, a full-day pre-kindergarten program surfaced from the P-20 committee and was then implemented. The committee thought the implementation of the program would support effective teaching practices that have been shown to lead to important growth in children’s intellectual and social development. Superintendent Dr. Adrian Vega agreed, stating that being pro-active is critical to a child’s future success.

Being able to get kids earlier and put them in a structured environment with a quality educational experience yield positive results that later on continues in their educational development, Vega said.