Mendota Elementary provides two different preschool settings for students for age 3 until kindergarten age appropriate: The first is a State funded program called Preschool For All (English and Spanish); the second is a Developmental Delay Program for students with IEP's. Students must meet established criteria for both programs.

Both programs are housed at the District Office, door 17 at the south end of Northbrook School, 1806 Guiles Ave, Mendota, Illinois.

Contact Information

Preschool For ALL: Please call Mrs. Denise Garthe at 815-538-3849 or Sr. Maria Arredondo at 815-539-7362

DD Preschool: Please call Mrs. Lydia Jones at 815-539-7362

Why is Preschool Important?

The research is clear: An educational study unprecedented in scope finds that children who enter kindergarten with elementary mathematics and reading skills are the most likely to experience later academic success. Northwestern University researcher Greg Duncan stated writes, "We find the single most important factor in predicting later academic achievement is that children begin school with a mastery of early math and literacy concepts." He continues to explain that all these skills can be learned through quality play, but he emphasized that "Mastery of early math skills predicts not only future math achievement, it also predicts future reading achievement," Duncan said. "And it does so just as reliably as early literacy mastery of vocabulary, letters and phonetics predicts later reading success."

Preschool is all about quality engagement through play. Students learn "how we do school" by following a sequence of predictable activities that engage, challenge thoughts, build foundational skills, promote independence, foster appropriate social and emotional skills, build background knowledge and vocabulary, increase attentiveness, etc. Some of these activities include the following:

1. Lining up before school and independently taking off coats, bookbags, and placing items in a cubby.

2. Marking attendance for the day, finding their name, writing their name, and moving to a table of choice for a shared activity.

3. Attending and participating during carpet time while understanding personal space.

4. Listening to stories, signing songs, counting aloud, naming letters and sounds of the letters, discussing calendars, weather, seasons, etc

5. Choice play at centers (art, music and movement, sand and water, dramatic play, fine motor, blocks, literacy, science, and snack) which engage the child in various activities at various levels.

6. Learning how to share toys, interact appropriately with peers, talk to peers,solve problems using words, wait for turns, listen to others speak and share ideas, etc..

7. Clean up themselves, put things away in appropriately labeled spots, start and stop activities when prompted, use the washroom independently, use picture cues and sequences to independently complete tasks, etc

8. Pack up at the end of the day and independently put on coats, hats, gloves, and line up until an adult to adult exchange can occur.

In two and half hours a great deal is learned to promote independence and provide experiences to prepar students for kindergarten.