We are proud to offer a play-based 4-5 year old preschool class (Honey Bees) and a 3-4 year old preschool class (Little Bees) here at Hill City School. Our preschool is housed in our Early Childhood through 12th grade school building. Toggle between the menu bar at the top to find your specific needs or scroll down to learn more about our program. To find RESOURCES and FORMS, scroll to the bottom of this page.

2022-2023 Calendar

Hill City 22-23 EC Calendar.pdf

Jaime Hilton

Birth- 3rd grade MN Licensed Educator

(Honey Bees Ages 4-5)

Attending Capella University to earn a Masters in Education, specializing in Early Childhood Education

Bachelors Degree in Educational Studies with an Early Childhood emphasis and a minor in Early Childhood Special Education from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2019

A.A. and A.S. in Applied Psychology Human Services from Itasca Community College

Lauren Hidde

Birth- 3rd grade MN Licensed Educator

(Little Bees Ages 3-4)

Bachelors Degree in Biology from the University of North Dakota in 2019

Attending Southwest Minnesota State University to earn a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education

Erin Boleman

Early Childhood Special Educator

Attending Southwest Minesota State University to earn a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Special Education

Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Bemidji State University

A.A from Itasca Community College

Kristy James

Paraprofessional

(Honey Bees Ages 4-5)

Fourteen years of experience at ISD 002

Worked as an Early Childhood Special Education Paraprofessional at Hill City for 8 years

Dorie Barnes

Paraprofessional

(Little Bees Ages 3-4)

Five years of Paraprofessional experience at ISD 002

Worked as an Early Childhood Paraprofessional at Hill City for 3 years

Delaney Finke

Special Education Paraprofessional

(Honey Bees and Little Bees)

One year Paraprofessional experience at Vandyke Elementary

A.A. from Itasca Community College

Brandon Otway

Early Childhood Coordinator

Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education from Lakehead University (Thunder Bay)

Masters in Early Childhood Special Education from Minnesota State University-Moorhead

Attending Minnesota State University-Moorhead for Principal and Superintendent Licensure

Paula Nix-Vroman

Speech Clinician

(Birth to 21 Years)

M.S. in Communication Disorders from St. Cloud University

Certificate of Clinical Competence American Speech-Language Hearing Association

B.A.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Minnesota Duluth

A.A. from Itasca Community College

Curriculum

We chose these curriculums because they are research-based and developmentally appropriate for children aged 3-5 and they target the whole child (cognitive, language, literacy, physical, and social-emotional). We know that children develop and grow, but also know that all children develop in different ways and at different times. These curriculums allow us, as educators, to tailor our teaching so we meet the children where they are at developmentally.

The High Scope Curriculum

The High Scope Curriculum states, "Play-based, child-centered, and grounded in research, the HighScope Curriculum features active learning at its core. In a HighScope classroom, children are guided to explore, interact, and exercise their creative imagination through purposeful play. Well-prepared teachers support and extend each child’s learning based on their developmental levels, so children enter school ready and eager to learn."

Second Step Curriculum

The Second Step website writes,

"Help your littlest learners harness their energy and potential by teaching them to:

Listen
Pay attention
Manage their behavior
Get along with others

Second Step Early Learning has been shown to improve young students’ executive-function skills—like attention, memory, and self-control—which are not only predictive of Kindergarten readiness but are essential for success in and outside the classroom."

Heggerty Phonemic Awareness

On the Heggerty website it states, "Designed to supplement your existing literacy curriculum, the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Pre-Kindergarten lessons easily integrate into half-day or full-day preschool programs. When lessons are taught consistently each day with explicit teacher modeling and scaffolded support, teachers see improvement in students’ reading, spelling, and writing, as the students learn to hear the sounds in words."

Connecting to Learn

The Connecting to Learn website states, "Connecting to Learn is a comprehensive ECFE curriculum, training, and consulting, designed to equip parent and child educators.

We provide research-based, adaptable, transformative and user-friendly lessons for new and experienced teachers.

Our early childhood family education curriculum empowers teachers, school districts, and community groups to build healthy families."

Assessment Tool

Teaching Strategies Gold (TSG) is the assessment tool that we use in our Early Childhood Program. Teaching Strategies Gold is an authentic and formative observation-based assessment tool used throughout the school day. This means that the classroom teachers are assessing the students by observing them in their natural play-based state in their classroom.

Teaching Strategies Gold

On the Teaching Strategies Gold website it states, "The assessment model used in GOLD follows widely held expectations for children from birth through third grade and enables a whole-child approach to assessment. Color-coded progressions guide teachers toward selecting and adapting activities that support each child’s development and learning. Meaningful reports inform classroom practices and individualized instruction."

Communication: Seesaw Family

At Hill City Preschool we use a free smart phone app called Seesaw. This is our most popular mode of communication to families. You can also access it online. We are aligned with Hill City Elementary so families will use this platform throughout elementary school. It is a great way to get used to this app. If you do not have access to a phone or computer we will always offer other communication options.

Notifications will be sent through the Seesaw app when needed.

Resources

Under the "Parent Sites" you will find links to each classroom page (or you can toggle using the menu at the top of the site), Seesaw, and Help Me Grow (for parents who think their child is not meeting developmental milestones).

Parent Sites

School Forms

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