Officials with the state Department of Public Instruction say opportunities for children to access four-year-old kindergarten programs continue to expand in Wisconsin. Updated figures from DPI show there was 11 more districts in the state who started offering programs during the 2013-14 school year, resulting in about 93 percent of the public school districts in the state now providing some type of 4K educational option.
Education officials argue the programs help give students early access to the learning experiences they need to thrive in school.
For the current school year, 386 school districts are offering 4K programs to 48,590 students. DPI says over 100 of those programs are using a community approach to 4K, which has school districts, private child care centers, and Head Start centers teaming up to provide services to children and their families.