Libby School District will open a preschool for four-year-olds when school opens for the fall semester of 2015. The funds for the preschool were provided in a five-year grant of $1.69 million, awarded to the school by the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

The district’s curriculum director and grant-writer, Katie Dodson, wrote the grant for the district and secured the award under the Montana Preschool Development program. Grants were awarded to just six Montana schools this year with the intention of opening preschools in the fall of 2016.

District superintendent Craig Barringer had other plans.

Barringer sought permission from the state office to accelerate the plan and open Libby’s preschool one year ahead of schedule.

“We’re fortunate to have two veteran teachers starting our program. They understand what the kids need in order to be successful, so we thought we could jump-start the program with them,” Barringer said.

The two teachers, Judy Graham and Kristy Gallagher, currently teach at Libby Elementary School. Graham teaches kindergarten and Gallagher teaches fourth grade. Both, Barringer said, have the expertise to develop a solid preschool curriculum and work with four-year-old students to prepare them for elementary school.

The program will be housed at The Plummer School, with Kootenai Valley Head Start, although it will be a separate program. Children applying for preschool will also be screened to determine if they qualify for Head Start. Students qualifying for Head Start will go into that program, with the other children going into the preschool on a first-come, first-served basis.

“The idea is that we can get a jump on Gov. Bullock’s education initiative,” Dodson said. “He didn’t get it passed in the Legislature this year, but it will be one of his areas of focus in the coming years.”

Barringer’s goal is to register at least 20 children for the 2015 preschool, putting at least 10 students in each classroom. Class size is limited to 18 per classroom by the terms of the grant, so space could become a factor.

“Our goal is to have 10 kids in each class,” Barringer said. “But the maximum we can do is 18 per the grant. It’s all on a first-come, first-served basis.”

The curriculum will be designed to provide a balanced beginning for younger students, Barringer said.

“There will be as much emphasis on social development as there is on academics,” he said.

Dodson said the curriculum will be built around the Opening the World of Learning (OWL) curriculum, which focuses on teaching children how to learn and adjusting them to a school environment. Elements of the Montana Behavioral Initiative will be integrated into the curriculum, teaching life skills such as socialization and acceptable behaviors for younger students.

Barringer said this is the ideal age to start teaching children.

“Brain research has shown the best learning age is between three and seven years old,” he said. “This program is tailored to providing the best possible impact on the students’ future learning abilities.”

“Our goal,” Dodson said, “is to build a base of learning for the rest of their lives.”