Preschool
Meet our Staff
Candace Wieting, Teacher
Recent News
Big Stone City Preschool
Distinguished 2021-2022
SASD RELEASES ONLINE PRESCHOOL TOOL
The School Administrators of South Dakota recognize the importance of a quality preschool experience as an integral part of a student’s success in school. In South Dakota, 76% of children under the age of 6 have all available parents in the labor force. The national average is 65%. South Dakota ranks the highest in the nation based on the 2015 data. Those statistics make early childhood education that much more important in South Dakota. Knowing this, SASD began the process two years ago to put in place a tool to help identify and acknowledge Levels of Excellence for preschool programs in South Dakota. “We are excited that our online tool is available for any preschool, public or private, who may be interested in going through the process of seeing how well their preschool performs in comparison to our Levels of Excellence” Rick Thaler, Committee Chair. The document and process put together by SASD is entirely voluntary.
The SASD Pre-School Standing Committee, Chaired by Rick Thaler was established and met for the first time in August of 2015. The late Dr. Gera Jacobs from USD was asked to take part in the work and she began to put together the framework for the Levels of Excellence. She was assisted by Dr. Sherrie Bosse from USD and Carmen Stewart from USD Head Start. The committee met over a two-year period to work through the Levels of Excellence document to make it as user friendly as possible for any preschool, yet have the validity it needed.
The Preschool Levels of Excellence tool contains indicators that will identify where a preschool fall on a continuum of three levels; Proficient, Distinguished, and Exemplary based on a final tabulation of scores. The director or owner of the preschool does an initial self-evaluation with the document, and then a member form SASD will do their own observation of the preschool program. The two will then meet to discuss the final document before a tabulation is compiled. Once a level has been established, the preschool will receive a certificate from SASD identifying their level of excellence to display at their preschool. Their name and address, along with their level of excellence have the opportunity be hosted on the SASD.ORG website identifying preschools of excellence around the state. The level of excellence is valid for three years before the process needs to be repeated. However, if a preschool is wanting to advance their level, they can go through the process at any time before the three-year timeframe is up. “Early intervention through quality childhood programs are proven to be vital to later academic success for many children at the k-12 level. SASD is very proud to be the leader in our state as we raise the bar in preschool education. We believe that the SASD Levels of Excellence program will have a positive impact on the lives of many of South Dakota’s Children”. Kevin Nelson, Principal of Beresford Elementary School.
“Our hope is to work with the next administration on bringing a higher level of focus to early childhood in helping with economic and workforce development”. Rob Monson, Executive Director.
Be sure to check out the following links:
https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/children-and-education/sasd-preschool-levels-of-excellence/
https://www.sasd.org/preschool-levels-excellence/
The School Administrators of South Dakota recognize the importance of a quality preschool experience as an integral part of a student’s success in school. In South Dakota, 76% of children under the age of 6 have all available parents in the labor force. The national average is 65%. South Dakota ranks the highest in the nation based on the 2015 data. Those statistics make early childhood education that much more important in South Dakota. Knowing this, SASD began the process two years ago to put in place a tool to help identify and acknowledge Levels of Excellence for preschool programs in South Dakota. “We are excited that our online tool is available for any preschool, public or private, who may be interested in going through the process of seeing how well their preschool performs in comparison to our Levels of Excellence” Rick Thaler, Committee Chair. The document and process put together by SASD is entirely voluntary.
The SASD Pre-School Standing Committee, Chaired by Rick Thaler was established and met for the first time in August of 2015. The late Dr. Gera Jacobs from USD was asked to take part in the work and she began to put together the framework for the Levels of Excellence. She was assisted by Dr. Sherrie Bosse from USD and Carmen Stewart from USD Head Start. The committee met over a two-year period to work through the Levels of Excellence document to make it as user friendly as possible for any preschool, yet have the validity it needed.
The Preschool Levels of Excellence tool contains indicators that will identify where a preschool fall on a continuum of three levels; Proficient, Distinguished, and Exemplary based on a final tabulation of scores. The director or owner of the preschool does an initial self-evaluation with the document, and then a member form SASD will do their own observation of the preschool program. The two will then meet to discuss the final document before a tabulation is compiled. Once a level has been established, the preschool will receive a certificate from SASD identifying their level of excellence to display at their preschool. Their name and address, along with their level of excellence have the opportunity be hosted on the SASD.ORG website identifying preschools of excellence around the state. The level of excellence is valid for three years before the process needs to be repeated. However, if a preschool is wanting to advance their level, they can go through the process at any time before the three-year timeframe is up. “Early intervention through quality childhood programs are proven to be vital to later academic success for many children at the k-12 level. SASD is very proud to be the leader in our state as we raise the bar in preschool education. We believe that the SASD Levels of Excellence program will have a positive impact on the lives of many of South Dakota’s Children”. Kevin Nelson, Principal of Beresford Elementary School.
“Our hope is to work with the next administration on bringing a higher level of focus to early childhood in helping with economic and workforce development”. Rob Monson, Executive Director.
Be sure to check out the following links:
https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/children-and-education/sasd-preschool-levels-of-excellence/
https://www.sasd.org/preschool-levels-excellence/
About us
Our preschool is for children ages three to four. If your child is three or four years old by September 1st, they will be eligible for preschool.
Preschool here at Big Stone City School has one section this year and will be Monday through Friday, 8:20 to 3:30pm. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
Preschool focuses on school readiness, building strong relationships with peers and adults, the whole language approach to learning, and hands on activities. Students also enjoy the small groups, the incorporation of music and technology in the curriculum, and field trips that extend their learning. Some of the field trips include the Pumpkin Patch, Lou’s Greenhouse, Brookings Children Museum, Apple Picking, Santaland, Bramble Park Zoo, Pizza Hut, and swimming at Grand stay. The teaching staff conducts individual developmental assessments each month to monitor progress. The data from the assessment is used to develop specific learning goals for each child. The children work in small groups playing learning games based on their goals. The most important aspect that the Big Stone City School promotes is a genuine love for learning. The qualified and energetic staff create an experience that is welcoming and the low child-teacher ratio allows for excellent opportunities for learning.
Preschool here at Big Stone City School has one section this year and will be Monday through Friday, 8:20 to 3:30pm. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
Preschool focuses on school readiness, building strong relationships with peers and adults, the whole language approach to learning, and hands on activities. Students also enjoy the small groups, the incorporation of music and technology in the curriculum, and field trips that extend their learning. Some of the field trips include the Pumpkin Patch, Lou’s Greenhouse, Brookings Children Museum, Apple Picking, Santaland, Bramble Park Zoo, Pizza Hut, and swimming at Grand stay. The teaching staff conducts individual developmental assessments each month to monitor progress. The data from the assessment is used to develop specific learning goals for each child. The children work in small groups playing learning games based on their goals. The most important aspect that the Big Stone City School promotes is a genuine love for learning. The qualified and energetic staff create an experience that is welcoming and the low child-teacher ratio allows for excellent opportunities for learning.
