By Rodd Cayton
Dana Petro says Puesta del Sol Preschool welcomed about 100 4-year-olds into the classroom Tuesday, but Rio Rancho Public Schools is looking down the road. “We’re already thinking about who they will be as third-graders, as fifth-graders, as middle-schoolers, and ultimately our graduates,” Petro said at a press conference announcing the grand opening of the preschool.
Superintendent Robert Dodd said the road to the graduation stage will be paved with high expectations. “Teachers are going to expect a lot from our students,” he said. “Today, we’re here to celebrate our pre-K program, our four-year-olds, because we know they can do it. Students rise to the expectations that we set for them. Our responsibility is to set those expectations high, and then make sure every student has the teaching, the support and the opportunities necessary to reach our expectations.”
Brittany Behenna Griffith is principal of the preschool. “From the moment our pre-kindergartners arrive, we want them to experience a school where adults care deeply about them, and where they are both supported and wanting to grow,” she said. “That last piece is especially important. We want to continue to challenge our students. Superintendent Dodd has made clear that believing in students also means expecting more from them.”
By the conclusion of this school year, Griffith said, the 4-year-olds will have developed the foundational skills, confidence and curiosity they need to thrive in kindergarten. Those skills include early literacy, mathematical thinking, problem solving and developing communication skills and the ability to manage their learning.
Dodd said the four-year-olds — the class of 2040 — will be steered through the next 14 years with the end goal of ensuring they can have success. “Our responsibility is not simply to ask how these children fit into our current existing school system,” he said. “Our responsibility is to keep building this school system, so they will have all that they need over the next 14 years.”
The district is also aiming high with other students. Twenty-eight fifth-graders at Puesta del Sol Elementary are receiving access to advanced mathematics.
“If we challenge them in fifth grade, we increase their readiness for advanced mathematics in middle school,” he said. “That creates greater opportunities for algebra and geometry in middle school.” Dodd said another district goal is getting more students into Algebra II early in high school, so they’re ready for the SAT and they can demonstrate that they’re ready for college-level work.
Petro, principal at Puesta del Sol Elementary confirmed with fifth-grade student council members in attendance that they are up to the challenge. “We believe that when high expectations provide excellent instruction and give students the right support, then they will achieve,” she said.
The preschool remains below its capacity of 138 students, Griffith said. It runs a full-day program, while the Shining Stars Preschool runs a half-day. The latter has a waiting list, district officials say.
Alissa Boliver, mother of one of the new pre-K students (and a kindergartner at the elementary school), said RRPS’ long-term outlook lets parents pay attention to immediate issues.
“When you are the parent of a 4-year-old, the year 2040 sounds very far away,” Boliver said. “Today, we’re focused on much smaller, more immediate things. Will they be nervous? Will they make a friend? Will they like their teacher? What will they tell us when they come home? What we’ve heard this morning is reassuring because our educators aren’t just thinking about today; they’re thinking about where our children are headed. As parents, that’s exactly what we want.”
Board President Amanda Galbraith said she saw something headed into the press conference — a group of preschoolers clutching a string held by teachers ahead of and behind them — that’s an apt metaphor for the RRPS approach. “By helping them to be successful, we are going to put someone before them,” Galbraith said. “We will have someone that will go after them, and we will have that support system in between that they can hold on to.”