Early Childhood and Child Outreach
Preschool Application - Click here
Preschool Programming
The Tiverton Public Schools Preschool programs are located at Ranger School and Pocasset School. These programs provide special education and related services for children with special needs in an integrated classroom setting.
The integration of children accelerates the progress of the child with identified special needs in many areas of development including language, social/emotional, and self-help skills. Typically developing children learn quickly in a developmentally appropriate environment, also, and are more likely to develop positive attitudes about children with special needs.
We are excited to offer openings for typically developing children to participate in an enriched learning environment focused on developing communication and language, social, self-help, motor and cognitive skills. Early literacy and math skills are emphasized and align with RI Early Learning & Development Standards (RIELDS).
Our classroom is staffed by one certified teacher and teaching assistant(s), and there are up to 15 children in each session.
We offer morning and afternoon sessions up to 4 days per week. Our classrooms are open to preschool/prekindergarten children, aged three through five. There are a certain number of spaces available for children whose development has been progressing as expected (i.e. families do not have any early learning, speech, or motor concerns for their child), and not all applicants can be selected for the program.
To be eligible, children must:
turn three on or before September 1 of the school year
be residents of Tiverton
be fully potty trained
be able to function in a preschool classroom without additional support
have completed all registration forms required by the Tiverton School Department
have completed the application and tuition contract, and paid the deposit
be transported to and from school daily by a parent or caregiver
We require that all applicants participate in our Child Outreach Screening process before being considered for our program. This information gives the classroom teacher preliminary information about each student.
Please contact Lindsay Jacobs at ljacobs@tivertonschools.org for further information about our preschool programming, and to schedule your child’s screening appointment.
All participating families will be required to complete and sign a Tuition Agreement Form. This form will specify the payment options available to the participating families.
In order to secure your child’s place in the preschool program, a completed Tuition Agreement Form must be returned with your non-refundable deposit by: July 31st of the year
A non-refundable 20% deposit of the annual cost will be due by July 31st of the year and applied toward your tuition, for September and June.
Tuition can be paid via check or Paypal
Child Outreach
The Tiverton Public Schools conducts free Child Outreach Screenings for children 3 to 5 years of age. The program provides families with information about their child’s development and offers information about other resources that are available in the community. RI Child Outreach is a program sponsored by the RI Department of Education and the Tiverton School Department.
Our goal is for every child aged three, four and five to participate in this program prior to entering kindergarten.
Children work individually with one of our screeners to complete activities. There are five components of the screening which are as follows:
Developmental – this component shows your child’s learning skills in a variety of areas: movement, language, thinking, socialization, and behavior. Your child will be doing special activities such as hopping, counting , drawing, following directions, identifying pictures and copying shapes, to name a few.
Speech – this screening shows how your child expresses himself/herself. After warming up through conversation your child will be asked to say a number of words. This helped to check his/her ability to pronounce certain sounds that are appropriate for your child’s age. This is called articulation. The second part of the speech screening focuses on expressive language: your child’s ability to verbally express him/her.
Hearing – a screening which shows how your child’s hearing is at the time of the screening. This should never take the place of an audiological exam if you suspect your child may have a hearing loss.
Vision – a screening using an eye chart, probably very similar to the eye chart at your pediatrician’s office.
Social/Emotional – this screening is a questionnaire that you are asked to fill out in helping us to determine the needs of your child, if any, in this area.
To schedule your child's free screening, please contact:
Lindsay Jacobs
