Program Information
Eastmont Preschools Hours
Program Hours for 2023-2024
Students attend 2 1/2 hours a day
3 year olds class options:
Am Tuesday-Wednesday
AM Thursday-Friday
PM Monday-Tuesday
PM Thursday-Friday
AM Wednesday-Friday
PM Wednesday-Friday
4 year olds options:
PM Wednesday-Friday
PM Monday-Wednesday
AM Tuesday-Friday
PM Monday-Thursday
AM Classes are 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
PM Classes are 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Class days follow the Eastmont School District Wildcat Calendar. Any changes to the schedule will be provided through paper work sent home by the teacher at least a week in advance of those changes.
Transportation
Children’s safety in coming to and going home from the Wee Wildcat preschool is of primary importance to all who are associated with the preschool program. The Eastmont School District transportation department arranges transportation for special education students only at the request of their parents.
Bus Transportation - Special Education qualified children will be picked up at their home on a specially equipped Eastmont School District bus. All busses have approved child seats and children are securely placed prior to travel to their destination. When a child starts at the preschool, special arrangements are made with the transportation department to pick them up at their home or day care facility and then to take him/her back to their home or day care.
The parent will be contacted with information about which bus and times for arrival and return from the preschool. It is very important that any changes be communicated to the child’s teacher so arrangements can be made well in advance.
Please call the bus garage at 884-4621 at least 30 minutes before their scheduled pick up if your student will not need the bus. Also please contact the bus garage if you need to change where your student will be picked and/or dropped off.
Eastmont Bus Garage – 884-4621
Wee Wildcat Preschool
The following link includes a map for pick-up and drop-off.
Drop Off Procedure Wee Wildcats
Drop-off and pick-up times
AM classes: 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM
PM classes: 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM
Parent-provided Transportation - Parents who pay tuition for their children and those parents of Special Education children who want to bring their student to preschool and pick them up, must provide their own transportation. Parents who provide their own transportation should enter the EHS bus ramp from Iowa St. and exit onto 3rd St. N.E. Children should be dropped off with waiting preschool staff (look for staff in safety vests) at the preschool classrooms near the bus ramp.
Children should not arrive at preschool more than 5 minutes before the start of each session and need to be picked up promptly at the end of each session. If someone other than the parent is dropping the child off or picking them up, that person’s name should be given to the teacher and a large name card with the child’s first name placed in the front window of the vehicle, so preschool personnel will know which child belongs in which car.
Wee Cougar Preschool
The following link includes a map for pick-up and drop-off.
Drop Off Procedure Wee Cougars
Drop-off and pick-up times
AM classes: 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM
PM classes: 12:30 PM and 3:00 PM
Parent-provided Transportation - Parents who pay tuition for their children and those parents of Special Education children who want to bring their student to preschool and pick them up, must provide their own transportation. Parents who provide their own transportation should enter the Sterling bus ramp from 5th St. Children should be dropped off with waiting preschool staff (look for staff in safety vests) at the preschool classrooms near the bus ramp.
Children should not arrive at preschool more than 5 minutes before the start of each session and need to be picked up promptly at the end of each session. If someone other than the parent is dropping the child off or picking them up, that person’s name should be given to the teacher and a large name card with the child’s first name placed in the front window of the vehicle, so preschool personnel will know which child belongs in which car.
Because the loading area is also used by district school buses, it is imperative that no preschool driver enters the loading area until the above times. If you arrive earlier, you may park in the main parking lot off 3rd street until the designated time.
We have been asked to keep N. Iowa Street clear, so parents may not line up there to wait to enter the loading area. Teachers will exit the building at the south entrance by the crosswalk. The preschool bus and parents will pull up all the way to the crosswalk, which allows more cars to turn into the area from N. Iowa.
Please do not pull ahead of the crosswalk to buckle your child. Drivers will be patient as parents buckle children and merge into the driving lane. Do not pull ahead of a buckling parent. Slow, predictable, and careful movement around students is our goal.
If a parent needs to visit with preschool personnel, please park in designated visitors parking area at the front of the high school. Do not hold up the drop-off/ pick-up line to visit at length with teachers or school personnel.
Absences
If your child is unable to attend preschool, please call prior to class starting.
If your child rides the bus please contact the bus garage at least 30 minutes before their scheduled pickup.
Preschool contact numbers
Teacher Gabi Sheffield 888-1278 Teacher Kyle Sullivan-Jones 888-1488
Teacher Sonja Kniep 888-1280 Teacher Terri Wynder 888-1486
Eastmont Bus Garage 884-4621
Program Philosophy
The Wee Wildcat Preschool program offers a variety of learning experiences which provide for the unique needs and abilities of our preschool and high school students. Our integrated program strives to promote a positive image of self and others. Multi-sensory play activities allow the children to learn about themselves and their environment at their own developmental level and within an appropriate preschool climate.
The program philosophy consists of the following basic premises:
1. Young children learn by doing. Children learn about the physical and social worlds through playful interaction with objects and people. Play requires students to engage in tasks that develop thinking, language, small muscle, large muscle, problem-solving, social and pre-academic skills.
2. For children to understand and remember what they have learned, the information must be meaningful to the child. Children are provided concrete learning activities with materials and people relevant to their own experiences.
3. The process, or how a child learns, is as important as the product, or what the child learns.
4. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and discovery. Children choose many of their own activities from the variety of learning areas provided. Children are encouraged to make choices and then act upon those choices, with the preschool workers facilitating their learning.
5. No two children are at exactly the same developmental level. Different levels of ability and development are expected and accepted.
The curriculum taught is Open-Court PRE-K which coincides with the Eastmont School District K-8 curriculum.
Preschool Retention Policy
It is the belief of the Wee Wildcat Preschool staff that students should start kindergarten when they are eligible. Children benefit from being around peers with age appropriate communication, social, and academic skills. The Preschool team would only consider having a child attend Wee Wildcats an extra year in very specific circumstances.
Links to Early Childhood Information
Early Childhood Programs
Early Childhood programs are offered through Eastmont School District and a variety of agencies. Preschool programs are offered at the Wee Wildcat Preschool (Eastmont High School site), Sunset Ridge Head Start (East Wenatchee), EPIC (Rock Island Rd. site) and the Head Start offices (Kittitas street, Wenatchee). In addition, there are a number of private day care and preschool sites in East Wenatchee and Wenatchee.
Wee Wildcat Preschool - Two Classrooms - The Wee Wildcat preschool is located at Eastmont High School and is available for typical developing children as well as for children who are experiencing developmental issues and delays. High school students from the Child Development classes assist in providing services to preschoolers. Classes are offered both in the morning and afternoon, with 3 year olds attending for 2 hours-15 minutes on Monday and Tuesday and 4/5 year olds attending for 2 hours -15 minutes on Wednesday through Friday.
Parents of typically developing children may request a spot in preschool BEGINNING THE 1ST MONDAY IN MARCH and pay a monthly tuition amount.
After that date, children can be placed on the waiting list. Preschool curriculum is closely tied to reading and mathematics curriculum taught at Eastmont School District elementary schools. (888-1280, For More Information)
Head Start - East Wenatchee residents who request and qualify for Head Start attend preschool classes at Sunset Ridge Apartments or the Head Start center in Wenatchee. (Sunset Ridge 884-7057, Wenatchee 663-5179). Please see the local Headstart website www.cdcsa.com/site/default.aspx
Early Head Start Services are available for families of children under the age of three. Early Head Start offers full day services to families with child care subsidies or a Home Base program. Please call (509) 663-5179 to see if you qualify. Children who qualify for Early Head Start services may be referred to a Family Resource Coordinator for services for children, birth to age 3 (Sunset Ridge - 884-7057,Wenatchee - 663-5179)
EPIC- ECEAP/Migrant Head Start Programs - EPIC provides services to migrant and low income families. The EPIC center is located on Rock Island Road just east of Mary street. EPIC provides Summer, Fall and Winter preschool programs as well as childcare for families who work in agriculture. Children who are in need of specialized services are referred through family advocates. EPIC provides on-going parental support through regularly scheduled family activities at their site. (884-2435)
Individual Services - Some preschool students may qualify for communication, OT or PT services and are not in need of a preschool program. Those students are often served in Eastmont School District Elementary schools to help them improve speech, fine or gross motor skills.
Interventions
Interventions for Preschoolers
“Interventions” is an educational term that generally means suggestions for how parents or teachers might work with their child on specific skills that need improvement or training.
The interventions in this section address development problems in the areas of:
Cognitive development (intelligence and understanding)
Communication development (ability to use language and speech)
Physical development (fine and gross motor skills
Social development (ability to interact with others)
Adaptive development (age appropriate self-help skills)
These five areas of development are crucial to becoming a well-rounded individual. Practicing some of the suggested interventions can help your child become more self-sufficient and ready for the school environment.