As I read the attachments regarding the Countdown to Kindergarten I am touched with how far Smart Start Centre County has come. From the very early days of gathering a number of passionate Early Childhood educators in the same room, to learning to listen & accept one another along with our thoughts, to ideas & wants written on post-it-notes, to hours and hours of our time, to putting the needs of young children in Centre County in writing, to drafting the mission statement, we knew that in order for all children to have what is important for their success, this idea had to move on.

I am proud of what our original idea has become. Thank you for your part in taking what was most important to us and helping it to fly!

I wanted to express my thanks for providing the incoming SCASD kindergarten students with "Class of 2024" t-shirts and the "My School--Easterly Parkway Elementary School" book. My daughter, Hannah, loves both items. We read the book after registration as part of our celebration of this exciting milestone: starting kindergarten! She wanted to read the book many times over and later took it up to bed with her. She even brought the book in as her show and tell object that week! Interestingly, her first comment after attending her kindergarten orientation at Easterly last week was, "Can we read my Easterly book again?". Going to see the school once in the spring was a great experience, but the book allows her to study the color pictures as long and as often as she likes to familiarize herself with her new school. It has become a very special book in our home filled with many books.

The t-shirt is another point of pride among the preschoolers in my daughter's class! As it happens, her whole class moves on to kindergarten next year, to a variety of different public schools in the area, but one thing they all have in common is this "Class of 2024" t-shirt! Many of the preschoolers have worn their shirts to school, and my friend reports that her daughter changes into her t-shirt at least three times a week!

At registration for kindergarten, I certainly receive a substantial pile of important papers to read and complete, but never before did my child receive important items to signify to her that this was a special event for and about her. I really appreciated the effort that went into considering the child's perspective and the significance of beginning her elementary school career. The book, especially, was very well thought out and formatted to walk a child through the critical moments, places and people they will encounter almost everyday in kindergarten.

The transition to kindergarten and elementary school is an important one, and the t-shirt and "My School" book are helpful to me as a parent as I try to guide my daughter through the process of ending her preschool career and embarking on the adventure of learning and growing in kindergarten. She will be leaving the many friends she has made in preschool, some of whom have been together for three years, and the teachers and building she has known for all those years to go to a large building filled with many unfamiliar places and people and routines. No small feat for a small person! I am confident she will love kindergarten, but, as we know, first impressions are lasting impressions! So thank you for providing your invaluable support as I help Hannah discover the joys of kindergarten and Easterly Parkway School!

I really enjoyed the round table for transitioning to Kindergarten. I feel more confident in the role I play as a lead teacher in a four year old classroom. I now have the tools I need to hold a meeting for my parents in the spring, so that they can get every piece of info I think they'll need to help their child with such a transition. Thanks for organizing the event. Can't wait for the next one!!

The collaboration of hard work from all participants was impressive! The district is already doing a nice job with Transition to Kindergarten but it's great to see that there is always room for improvement. Re: Transition Booklet: I personally used the transition booklet for Park Forest Kindergarten and found it to be a great tool. My son and I read it before bed the week before school started. We discussed the possibility of placing the transition book on CD or DVD which might save the district printing costs. Re: Kindergarten Camp: The discussion about Kindergarten Camp was very helpful. There were suggestions from our discussion table—maybe if the cost is too high for a one week program, children and families would benefit from a 3 day program. I enjoyed the training and the round table. Thank you for the opportunity to attend.