Dover Elementary School Pre-Kindergarten Program

 For almost a decade, the Dover Pre-K program has provided its participants with an educational foundation that contributes to success throughout their academic careers.  Four and five year old children are introduced to the school environment in a gradual and developmentally appropriate way.  For three hours a day, five days a week, families opt to send their children to Pre-kindergarten in order to take advantage of all that Dover School has to offer. 

The head teacher for the past three years, Carrie Dix, has a Masters of Education from Keene State College and has been working with young children for seven years in both educational and recreational settings.  Our classroom assistant Joan Black, is a retired teacher with a Masters of Education and 29 years of experience.  We strive to provide a safe, caring, stimulating environment, where children have the time and opportunity to take appropriate risks and to explore their world creatively.  We value the differences in children and recognize the wide span of children’s needs, learning rates and styles.  A positive, proactive approach is always used when a child may have special needs.

The Dover Pre-Kindergarten has received 3 stars in the Vermont STARS Program (STep Ahead Recognition System) since 2008.  Our curriculum is closely aligned with the Vermont Early Learning Standards and the Vermont Grade Expectations.  We use the Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum throughout the year to assess the children as they demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways.  The Second Step Curriculum is used to teach vital social-emotional skills, such as conflict resolution techniques, feeling identification and ways to calm down independently, which continue to be useful as the children get older.  

Our program exists in the elementary school therefore we have access to all of its staff and facilities.  This means that we get to play in the gym when the weather is bad as well as participate in Physical Education, Spanish, Health, Music and All School Sing on a weekly basis.  The Pre-K also has Library twice a month and Art Class for twelve weeks per year.  It is the goal of the Dover Pre-Kindergarten Program to facilitate learning by using a variety of instructional models, strategies and resources to support the development of the whole child.