Seamless Transitions
Seamless Transitions is our community-based program which addresses several pressing educational and social issues in New Orleans. Its purpose is to develop lasting collaborative relationships between New Orleans’ public charter schools and childcare centers in order to ensure children’s successful transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten.
Since we began focusing our work in the Greater New Orleans area, successful Kindergarten transition has been one of our primary goals. Specific issues we identified and addressed have been: children entering Kindergarten from childcare centers not yet ready for success; conversely, Kindergarten classrooms unprepared for children coming from high-quality, developmentally-appropriate Pre-K experiences; families unaware of how to help their children prepare for success; families who are uncomfortable with “big school;” and the lack of collaboration between “little school” and “big school.”
Program Details
Seamless Transitions brings together Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers, parents and child development experts in a collaborative effort that:
- provides joint professional development for Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers to build relationships and identify best practices for teaching readiness skills in all domains in both Pre-K and Kindergarten classes;
- provides technical assistance to help Pre-K teachers implement strategies so that basic school readiness skills (self-care and motor skills, self-regulation, social expression and kindergarten academics) are introduced and appropriately developed prior to children beginning Kindergarten;
- helps Kindergarten teachers implement learning centers, a developmentally-appropriate practice in high-quality early childhood educational settings, where children can learn in situations of their choosing through playful exploration, experience and discovery; and
- assists schools and childcare centers in working with parents so that they will be more active in their child’s (a) Kindergarten readiness and (b) subsequent success in school.
Seamless Transitions succeeds because it directly addresses the readiness issue, both prior to entering school and very early in the child’s school career. The program brings together teachers (from both childcare centers and schools) and families – the people who have the greatest influence on young children.
We have initiated and implemented the Seamless Transitions Program over the past seven years, including the first New Orleans Diverse Delivery partnership between Langston Hughes Academy and Wilcox Academy of Early Learning.
Additional Milestones
- In 2012-13 the Seamless Transitions Diverse Delivery Project, funded by IMH, facilitated the formal partnership between Andrew H. Wilson Charter School (Wilson) and McMillian’s First Steps. In 2013-14, we facilitated a partnership between Wilson and Kids’ Kingdom.
- In addition, Diverse Delivery became one of the cornerstones of Louisiana’s Act 3.
- In 2015-16, we facilitated a partnership among Homer A. Plessy Community School, Kids of Excellence Child Development Center and Open Minds, Open Hearts Child Care Center.