Transitional Kindergarten (TK)NOTE: If you are interested in enrolling your student at Pacific School, please complete the appropriate Interest Form. More information about our enrollment procedures is Here.
Age Eligibility
Transitional Kindergarten (TK) serves students who turn four years old on or before September 1 of the school year. (Kindergarten serves students who turn five years old on or before September 1 of the school year.) Please note that while California as a whole is rolling out TK in phases, the Pacific School board has decided to accept all students in the entire 12 month age class into TK without waiting for the full roll-out. Therefore some students will be age-eligible for TK at Pacific School who are not age-eligible for TK at some other districts. Schedule Transitional Kindergarten (TK) meets from 8:15 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. Independent study students attend school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays only, while five-day students attend Mondays through Fridays. After School Recreation is available every day until 5:15 p.m. Teachers Rachel Paul (Teacher Rachel) will be teaching a combined TK/K class during the 2024-25 school year. Rachel, with seven years of classroom teaching experience, is looking forward to bringing their love of art and material exploration into the classroom for their fourth year teaching at Pacific. Rachel will be assisted by aides Isaiah Lewis, Carmen Lawler, and bilingual aide Linda Handley. Curriculum Our Transitional Kindergarten classroom fosters a creative and joyful environment in which students bridge their preschool experience and future kindergarten learning. The play-based, emergent curriculum centers on children’s interest and discovery. We believe that children are naturally curious about their world. Science Children learn experientially through hands-on investigations of the Earth, Life, and Physical sciences in the classroom and garden. Literacy Our literacy curriculum emerges from a text-rich environment in which children seek and engage with books and print as meaningful, useful, and joyful communication. As children explore the characteristics of letters and sounds, they develop their foundation for the reading and writing they will take on in their kindergarten classroom. TK students also visit the school library weekly and have the opportunity to check out books. Math Our mathematics exploration begins with curiosity around numbers and patterns and deepens with children’s play and manipulation of a wide variety of counters, collections, shapes, and blocks. As children make their investigations, we guide their understanding of counting, cardinality, comparison, addition and subtraction. Our block-building curriculum grows children’s understanding of number, physics, size, shape, and balance. Art, Music, and Dance Woven into all of the children’s experiences are rich opportunities to express themselves in the arts through dramatic play, song, dance, paint, clay, sculpture, collage, pastels, pencils and markers. The children study color theory, composition, and expression through a mix of guided and independent work. Community Throughout their day in the classroom, children learn how to be productive and valued community members and practice the necessary social and emotional skills needed for a school setting. We love to help children form new friendships and support them in resolving conflicts through read-aloud stories, meeting conversations, and restorative circles. We extend our learning beyond the classroom through field trips to our beautiful State Parks and local businesses and by inviting community members with experience in many fields to share their passions and interests with us. Daily Schedule
Communication Every week we will send out an email newsletter to keep you connected to our curriculum. In addition, we will contact you with updates about your child through email or at drop-off or pick-up times. Families of enrolled students* can reach Rachel at rpaul @ pacificesd.org. *To allow teachers to focus on the education of their current students, prospective families are asked to direct all questions to the office, not to teachers. Classroom Wishlist If you would like to support our transitional kindergarten program, consider materials from our classroom wishlist including books for our growing classroom library. |
Rachel Paul, TK and Kindergarten Teacher
Teacher Pablo on field trip with students.
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