Dear Canutillo Community,
This week, the Canutillo Independent School District announced the expansion of its Early Childhood Education Program at Canutillo Elementary and Davenport Elementary with programs designed specifically for 3-year-olds in our community. The “A,B,C Canutillo is Right for Me!” campaign we launched will create innovative and much-needed pre-k preschool and Montessori programs that our parents have been clamoring for.
The creation of a pre-k 3 preschool program at Canutillo Elementary will allow parents from throughout the District to bring their 3-year-old children into our school system for a high-quality educational experience that is free of charge to them. This is beneficial for two main reasons: it allows us to kickstart the educational experience for students a year earlier; and it provides financial relief to parents who would otherwise have to pay for childcare at private establishments. Of course, our prek-3 program will use the same educational strategies that our traditional pre-k and kinder classes already use, such as the Reggio Emilia philosophy for self-discovery instruction and dual-language.
Davenport meanwhile will be the perfect site for the expansion of the innovative Canutillo Montessori program we launched last year. If you recall, Canutillo ISD was the pioneer of free public Montessori education in El Paso with the launch of the Montessori units for 3-year-olds at Garcia Elementary last fall. That program is now adding a unit for 4-year-olds. However, the most exciting news is that Davenport will add a new unit for 3-year-olds that will help relieve the long waiting list we have experienced at Garcia. We are excited at the possibility of helping Davenport grow by offering this play-based curriculum at the Westway campus.
Of course, we continue to offer our traditional pre-k 4 and kindergarten classes at every campus in the District. All the programs I’ve mentioned here are full day and free of charge to qualifying families. To better serve our growing community, we are making some slots in all programs available to families who would otherwise not qualify for pre-k services because they don’t meet the income or socio-economic requirements.
So, come learn more about Early Childhood Education in Canutillo ISD! For more information and to register, log on to www.canutillo-isd.org/early_childhood. We can’t wait to welcome our littlest learners!
Pedro Galaviz
Superintendent of Schools