TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The Twin Falls School District's new free preschool program filled up less than two weeks after it was announced, with educators saying the program will help prepare 4- and 5-year-olds for kindergarten through a blend of play and learning.
Brook Trenkle, a teacher at Twin Falls Academy Preschool, said the classroom is designed to encourage imaginative, hands-on play.
"We have a kitchen set up, we have some occupational activities like doctor and construction worker. We have a family set up, your babies, and then we have like our farm stand and a cash register," Trenkle said.
Trenkle said imaginative play is a critical part of early childhood development, but technology has increasingly replaced it.
"Really, imaginative play is lost for a lot of kids. Nowadays we have technology that has replaced pretend play, and through pretend play and imagination we've learned social skills, language skills, skills that they will need all throughout their life start at the most basic level," Trenkle said.
Elementary Programs Director Nancy Murphy said the district identified early childhood education as a long-standing need.
"We knew that early childhood education is an area in Twin Falls that we needed for a while and some of our kindergartners just aren't coming to school ready to learn," Murphy said.
Murphy said the preschool program is directly tied to the district's broader literacy goals.
"So in Twin Falls, our big goal for early literacy is to have all kids reading at level by third grade. A big component of that would be having kids really ready to learn in kindergarten, so by having a preschool here we're able to get them exposed to letters, sounds and all those learning skills and attending skills so that when they do get to kindergarten, they're just that much more ready to read, which will help them, of course, become fluent readers," Murphy said.
State law does not allow state funds to pay for preschool programs like this one. Twin Falls is using federal funds and is not alone among districts in doing so.
The district has already expressed interest in expanding the preschool program to other school zones. Funding remains the primary hurdle.
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