Pattonville School District has the best early childhood education program in Missouri, according to the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA).
Recently, the district won its first FutureBuilders Early Childhood Education Program of the Year Award at the annual MSBA conference held at the Lake of the Ozarks. Pattonville was one of three finalists chosen among statewide applicants by FutureBuilders, the educational foundation of the MSBA.
“I know we have come a long way and we are doing some phenomenal things for children and families,” said Laurie Wenzel, director of Pattonville’s Early Childhood Education Program. “But we were up against some tough competition.”
The Nixa School District, located south of Springfield, Mo., and Park Hill School District in Kansas City placed second and third, respectively.
“It’s a difficult choice because there are so many excellent programs in Missouri,” said Melissa Randol, CEO of the FutureBuilders Foundation. However, she said, there’s typically a clear winner.
“Pattonville seems to understand that creating high-quality opportunities for children is critical,” Randol said. “And they’ve put the right programs in place to make sure that happens.”
Award recipients were selected based on their innovative approaches, outstanding ability to engage and support the development of children, and their overall commitment to the early childhood education profession.
“In our overall program, we’ve integrated a seamless design,” Wenzel said. “We don’t have things working in isolation of each other. An example would be teachers and parent educators from the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program working together with kids and families.”
The PAT program is a free, voluntary resource available to expectant women, and all families within the district with children under five.
“We really partnered with our families in our community to help them be their kids’ first, best teacher,” Wenzel said.
Pattonville’s nine PAT educators meet regularly with families and children during pre-arranged home visits. The PAT program offers parental support, classes and group meetings, play groups and age-appropriate health and developmental screenings for children.
Last school year, PAT educators in the district served 1,551 children and 1,020 families – 582 of whom were minority and more than 60 percent classified as “high needs.”
Pattonville’s Early Childhood Education Program has flexible enrollment options with before and after child care, two and four half-days or five full days, and three Head Start centers. There are six preschool sites located throughout the district at Bridgeway, Robert Drummond, Parkwood, Rose Acres, Willow Brook elementary schools and the Pattonville Learning Center.
The Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program is in its fourth year and earned a Silver Award from the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE). Through PBIS, Children learn “positive” social, emotional and behavioral skills by caring for themselves, friends and school. In each classroom, positive behavior is defined, expected, reinforced through role-playing and literature-based activities, and rewarded daily.
Jeanne Schottmueller, president of Pattonville’s Board of Education, said staff members have high expectations of their students and treat them as if they were their own children.
“The staff does everything they can to make sure those kids succeed to the full potential that they are capable of and that they are ready to move on to the next step in their educational process,” Schottmueller said.
Schottmueller said her own two children, who are now young adults, wouldn’t be as successful had they not went through the program.
Pattonville is also the most diverse school district to have earned the Missouri DESE Distinction in Performance Award for academic performance 11 consecutive years.
“We love our diverse populations,” Wenzel said. “We’re happy that we’re one of the most diverse school districts in the St. Louis area.”
For more information about enrollment, contact Laurie Wenzel, director of Early Childhood Education, at 314-213-8105 or LWenzel@psdr3.org.