BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County School District’s new early learning bus will be in service Jan. 2 when students return from Christmas break.
Martin County School District Special Education director Dena Hardin gave the Board of Education an update in Monday’s meeting. She said Martin County Area Technology Center students had been putting the finishing touches on the inside of the bus, which they transformed into a classroom.
“It should be finished by Friday,” James said. “The new wrap on the outside is very cute. It has Cardinals dressed in different professional clothing. There are teachers, coal miners, and various professionals. By Jan. 2, we should have the bus in the community servicing students.”
James added that letting the students do the work has been a good collaboration. “It’s been a good project for the kids.”
The bus will serve preschool students ages 3-5 who do not currently attend Head Start or preschool in the county.
A preschool teacher will travel with the learning bus to a different location throughout the community each day of the week. It will be available between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Head Start director Michelle Harless is coordinating a schedule and will announce details soon.
Earlier this year, Harless was letting students nominate names for the bus. (Stay tuned for details.)
According to James, the early learning bus will provide:
•Portable, high-quality learning opportunities for preschool-aged children living in rural communities
•Scheduled monthly stops throughout the community providing services to preschool-aged children
•Convenient preschool screening opportunities, which will help in the early identification of areas of concern
•Curriculum-based standards-driven activities, which will be informed by screening results, taught to students and shared with families at early learning bus stop locations
•Family education on the importance of early learning, teachable moments through developmentally appropriate lessons, coaching, support systems and resources
•Community Engagement (partnering with public libraries, food pantries, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and local health departments)
James also said the early learning bus project would:
•Increase preschool enrollment in Martin County
•Increase the number of students ready for kindergarten as measured by Kindergarten Readiness Brigance Screening Scores, classroom level assessments and behavior data
•Grow and develop support for caregiver groups by providing resources as measured by caregiver/family surveys
•Increase family and community engagement as measured by participation numbers at the designated bus destinations
•Improve early identification of students needing referral to special education as measured by Child Find screenings, thus reducing the number of students inappropriately identified for special education services
•Improve student behavior (i.e., reduce the number of students identified with challenging behaviors) because of social-emotional learning activities delivered in mobile settings, as documented in lesson plan goals
