The 2017-18 school year marks the 10th anniversary of the School District of Janesville’s Preschool for Janesville (P4J), also known as 4-year-old Kindergarten. The P4J program plays an important role in preparing students to be emotionally, academically, and socially prepared to enter Kindergarten, establishing a foundation for future success.
Recognizing the importance of early literacy, and in support of P4J’s 10th anniversary, Steve Pophal, Superintendent for the School District of Janesville (SDJ), will spend a portion of National Reading Day, January 23, 2018 with P4J students. During his visits to the Janesville Community Day Care Center (Ruger Ave.) and Janesville Child and Family Head Start Center (Center Ave.), he will read stories to children, and encourage parents and children to continue reading books at school and at home.
“One of our Janesville Promises to the community is that every student is known by name, strength, need; and every student graduates ready for college, career, and life,” said Pophal. “Early
literacy and keeping students on track to be reading at grade level by 3rd grade is an important step towards fulfilling that promise. But it also means we must start long before 3rd grade to help students achieve that goal!”
Pophal added that community support for early literacy programming, such as the newly formed Janesville Early Literacy Task Force, is vitally important for student success. National evidence suggests that 1 in 6 children who are not reading proficiently by 3rd grade do not graduate from high school. The Early Literacy Task Force is comprised of area businesses and organizations, and will focus on ways to support the district’s promise of reaching 90% of all 3rd graders reading at or above grade level.
“It is a privilege to work with our community partners on helping all students with reading skills,” said Pophal. “With their support and engagement, we can reach a majority of the kids and keep them on the path to student success.”
The P4J program in Janesville has 19 total sites serving nearly 650 students annually. The sites include 5 SDJ school buildings and 14 community sites across the city. All sites are taught by DPI Licensed teachers and the program offers an additional 87.5 hours of family outreach each year.
