School district expands universal prekindergarten program

By kATE Hill Staff writer

During the June 12 meeting of the Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education, Kevin Linck, assistant superintendent for instruction, equity, and personnel, announced that the district will be introducing a second universal prekindergarten (UPK) classroom for four-year-old students.

Both UPK classrooms will be located at Burton Street Elementary School.

According to Linck, the second classroom is possible because the district was recently awarded a $180,000 UPK Expansion Grant.

“Definitely a special thanks to [Burton Street Principal] Kara May, who was a big part of that process, [and] the BOCES grant writers, who worked through that with us,” Linck said. “It’s very exciting. It’s going to open us up to potentially 18 more students at UPK, basically double the num- ber of students.”

He added that he believes there will be no one left on the district’s UPK waitlist once the second classroom is up and running.

“Everyone that signs up and wants to be involved and participate will be able to, which is fantastic,” he said. According to the district, its UPK instruction is consistent with New York State prekindergarten learning standards, which focus on social- emotional, cognitive, and physical development. in other news

To be eligible for UPK in the 2023-2024 school year, a child must reside in the school district and have a birthday between Dec. 2, 2018, and Dec. 1, 2019.

To learn more about the program, call the district office at 315-655-1317.

During his report, Superintendent Christopher DiFulvio commended May for her role in making positive curricular changes at the elementary school over the past couple of years, including the introduction of the “Wit & Wisdom” English language arts curriculum, which will be adopted by additional grade levels next year.

May is leaving Burton Street to join the Chittenango School District.

“All these instructional changes came [under] the leadership of Kara May, our principal, who is leaving,” DiFulvio said. “I’d like to thank her for all her hard work in that area. Kara, you’ve left your mark on Burton Street forever. We can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.”

Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education meetings are usually held at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month. Meeting dates are listed on the district website and the school calendar. For more information, visit cazenoviacsd.com/board-of-education