Since COVID, Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 enrollment has improved by 10 percent for eligible students countywide, surpassing the state average by two percent. In promoting Pre-K, public school leaders like Jennifer Miller, Birdville ISD’s Executive Director of Specialized Instruction, Evaluations, & Early Childhood, aim to increase rates of kindergarten readiness among our region’s youngest residents, which correlates with early math and literacy success.
“Early childhood education is critical and crucial,” said Ms. Miller, “because it builds a foundation for lifelong learning.” Data analysis shows that one in five (18 percent) 3rd grade students who do not read on grade-level ever catch-up to achieving grade-level performance by 6th grade. *
Birdville ISD (BISD) has taken an intentional approach to driving improvement in the district’s Pre-K enrollment. Their multi-faceted strategy starts with raising parent and community awareness of the value and accessibility of public Pre-K programs. “We really try in every way to let families know what we have available,” stated Ms. Miller, noting the district’s targeted marketing initiatives to reach families throughout the year through social media and strategically distributed flyers at places such as doctors’ and dentists’ offices, libraries, and multi-family units.
Twice a year, BISD rolls out the red carpet for preschoolers and their parents with special events to personally invite them into the Birdville family. For the past two years, BISD’s “Big Wheels, Big Dreams” free, fall event has featured district work trucks, school buses, city/county emergency vehicles, and locally owned construction vehicles, offering touch-a-truck experiences both preschoolers and their parents enjoy. Nearly 500 participants attended this year and planning for next year has already begun.
In the spring, BISD hosts a Pre-K registration event called “Pre-K Night” featuring enrollment stations staffed by attendance clerks from each elementary school to walk parents through the registration process while teachers meet and engage the children with playful learning activities and games. The fourth annual Pre-K Night will be on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, with a superhero theme and matching motto: “Get a Super Start in Pre-K.”
“If we help children and families fall in love with their neighborhood school,” said Dawn Fielder, BISD’s Early Childhood Coordinator, “that really sets them on the right foundation. That is really one of our main jobs as early childhood educators. We want to help kids know, ‘This is my school. I’m loved here. I’m safe here. I can learn here.’ Then they just blossom from there.”
The latest data shows that Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 enrollment in BISD increased by 10 percent over the prior year. Only two out of 17 Tarrant County independent school districts experienced double-digit gains in Pre-K enrollment. As enrollment increases, finding opportunities to inform parents and encourage them to enroll their child in early learning is a priority for the district.
Investing time in early learning outreach is translating into student success. The number of BISD students who are kindergarten-ready has increased by 4 percent. This achievement sets the stage future success. Studies show that, “Kindergarten readiness is closely linked to future academic achievement and life success.”
BISD continues to engage and partner with families toward improving early math and literacy outcomes once students are in kindergarten through resources such as “family bites” (which are nuggets of information sent home to help parents support their children’s learning) and “take-home bags” containing books for children and their parents to read aloud together.
Altogether, Ms. Miller is confident that a focus on improving Pre-K enrollment contributes to more students thriving now and in the future. “We have the opportunity to not only shape them cognitively, but even in their social and emotional skills,” declared Ms. Miller, “and that will serve them well past those early learning years.”
*SOURCES:
2022 & 2023 TPEIR, Pre-Kindergarten Programs Report
Commit Analysis of student-level STAAR scores 2019-2022. Texas Education Agency.
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