Overview
Olmsted Falls City School District provides a full-day kindergarten program for children who live within school district boundaries and turn age 5 by August 1. The kindergarten program is housed at the Olmsted Falls Early Childhood Center (ECC). The district completed its transition to the full-day kindergarten format in August 2017, following a successful full-day pilot program the previous school year. The full-day kindergarten program is offered to all students in the district at no charge.
The kindergarten program at the ECC is designed to build a strong foundation that includes fostering a love of learning so students can grow, develop, and be able to take full advantage of the Triple A opportunities and experiences Olmsted Falls City School District will continue to provide in the areas of Academics, Arts and Athletics throughout their years as Bulldogs. The atmosphere at the ECC is joyful, collaborative, and nurturing for all. The children and adults who learn together at the ECC welcome family and community involvement and participation. Our staff actively seeks out community resources and weaves them into the fabric of our learning. We partner with our local Police and Fire Departments, Olmsted Falls Kiwanis Club, Baldwin-Wallace University, Cleveland State University, the County Board of Developmental Disabilities, the Cuyahoga County ESC, and many local businesses and community volunteers.
Our Classrooms and Services
Olmsted Falls Early Childhood Center currently has 10 full-day kindergarten classes and an outstanding team of teachers and support staff. The kindergarten curriculum is infused with movement and music and designed to teach and support communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Kindergarten students work on developing reading literacy skills and phonological awareness. Proper letter formation and other related fine motor skills are also part of instruction. In math, students learn about numbers and number sense in a way that allows the time and practice needed to build a solid foundation for their years ahead.
Social studies programming teaches about the passage of time (past to present) and helps the children to begin to develop an understanding of community in their classrooms, in their town, and in the world. They begin to recognize the many things people have in common and to celebrate our differences as well. The science curriculum includes a developmentally appropriate explanation of the scientific method and concentrates on helping children to understand the world around them: day and night, weather, and living and nonliving things. Kindergartners also have 35 minute art, music, and PE classes once every week, as well as two 30-minute library periods.
In addition to academic learning, it is also important for children learn how to cope with frustration and other feelings and to self-regulate their behavior. In order to become a community of learners, they need to develop interpersonal skills and learn to empathize with those around them and use their words to express what they know and believe and how they feel. All five buildings in the Olmsted Falls City School District frame their social/emotional/behavioral instruction using PBIS, which stands for Positive Behavior Instruction and Supports. At the ECC, all staff members teach the students how to “Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be Kind” and support each student to “Be Your Bulldog Best” every day.
Both breakfast and lunch can be purchased daily from the ECC cafeteria. Breakfast is available to all students with some choosing to eat their school breakfast in their classrooms as the children gather and get organized to begin their school day. Lunch, whether packed or purchased, is eaten in the cafeteria during a 25-minute lunch period and supervised by lunch/recess helpers. A cafeteria table is designated for children who have tree nut, peanut, or other food allergies (as needed). Depending on the classroom, a 25-minute recess occurs either before or after lunch.
Kindergarten Class Schedule
Kindergarten classes begin each day at 7:55 a.m. and end at 2:25 p.m., Monday through Friday. Building doors are open at 7:45 a.m. daily. Children are dismissed to OFCS buses, daycare vans and family vehicles at 2:25 p.m.
Olmsted Falls City School District collaborates with Olmsted Community Outreach (OCO), which provides an after school program housed inside Falls-Lenox Primary School. Families may choose to register with the OCO after school program to have their kindergarten student bused to Falls-Lenox under the care of OCO until as late as 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For additional information and tuition costs for the OCO after school program, please visit www.ocoutreach.org.
Who We Serve / How To Register
All children who reside within Olmsted Falls School District boundaries and who turn age 5 by August 1st are eligible to enroll in the kindergarten program at the Olmsted Falls Early Childhood Center. Support services including intervention specialists, speech/language therapists and/or motor therapists are available for kindergartners with identified special needs as indicated by their IEPs (Individual Education Plan). Students with IEPs are included in all kindergarten activities to the extent that they are able, with help from adults and classmates, to access the curriculum. Students with limited English proficiency, who are growing up speaking another language in addition to English, are immersed in the kindergarten classroom and provided support as needed to further develop their English proficiency.
Early Entrance. Parents interested in exploring early entrance for advanced learners who will not be 5 years old by the August 1st deadline are encouraged to attend the Kindergarten Information Night in January to learn more about the kindergarten program in general. The next step for those interested in possible early entrance for their child is to complete and submit the Academic Acceleration For Advanced Learners Referral Form available in the Information & Form Downloads Quick Link on the ECC website in order to formally begin the referral process.
Kindergarten Registration. Enrolling a student in kindergarten is a two-step process in the Olmsted Falls School District. The first step to registering a new kindergarten student is to complete the online registration process; the link to online kindergarten registration for the following school year is accessible from the district’s website at noon on the day after the scheduled Kindergarten Information Night each year (see below for this year’s dates). Once a child’s online registration has been completed, parents will be asked to schedule an in-person registration appointment which is the second step in the process. Parents will come to the school for an in-person appointment to complete step 2 of registration.
Transportation
District transportation is available for all kindergarten students. Bus assignments are mailed to homes in mid-August ahead of each new school year. Families needing to designate a single alternate pick-up/drop-off location must submit this request to the transportation department by June 15 each year for following school year.
Questions
If you have additional questions about our kindergarten program, please contact our office at 440-427-6360.