Our School

22-23 4K Collage

Appleton Community 4K builds a lifelong love of learning by providing safe and nurturing educational environments. We focus on age-appropriate concepts and academic growth in play-based learning settings. Learning experiences are driven by each individual child’s interests and encourage creativity, curiosity, problem solving, and exploration. Student progress is monitored and assessed in areas that include Early Literacy Development, Mathematical Thinking, and Social and Emotional Development.

In Appleton Community 4K, we're playing, learning, and growing today... to lead, care, and contribute tomorrow. We'd love to have your child join us!

Please visit our enrollment page to check out our helpful instructional videos and find one of our community partners near you. We welcome you to reach out to the 4K sites you are interested in learning more about. They'd love to talk to you and offer you a visit!

Guiding Principles of Appleton Community 4K

We believe that a successful and effective four-year-old kindergarten program:

  • Recognizes that early relationships between and within the constellation of people surrounding the young child matter.
  • Is universal, yet optional, with choices provided for meeting children’s early learning needs with consistent expectations.
  • Is inclusive of all children. We recognize and support all abilities and needs while respecting culture, diversity, and knowing the individual stages through which children develop.
  • Prepares the whole child. We promote active learning, learning through play, and growth in communication, physical, social and emotional development.
  • Uses knowledge of child growth and development as the foundation for educational experiences, professional development, and continuous program improvement.
  • Engages with and is supported by the community. The community is an invaluable component.
  • Supports the parents as the child’s primary teacher. We build partnerships between parents and early care and education.
  • Views each child as part of a family. We provide information to families about valuable resources and opportunities in the community.
  • Takes place in high quality environments that are nurturing and developmentally appropriate.
  • Fosters each child’s love of learning. Learning experiences are driven by individual child’s interests and encourage creativity, curiosity, problem solving and exploration.


Message from the Director

A very special welcome to all of our 4K students and families!

Throughout the school year, we will provide you with important information about our school, as well as helpful information you can use as you support your child’s development.

Appleton Community 4K was designed to be a community collaboration with our childcare, preschool and Head Start partners in the Appleton community. We are currently collaborating with 14 community partner sites and 4 school host sites, to provide high quality early learning experiences for our 4K students.

Our school motto is Appleton Community 4K, building lifelong learners through collaborative partnerships and play-based learning.

When children this age are asked what they did at school, it is very typical and accurate for them to answer with, “I played.” To learn more about what they are learning during their play, I encourage you to contact your child’s teacher who can share with you the learning objectives and how they are achieved through your child’s play.

As we move through our school year together, we look forward to sharing the many new skills your children learn in their 4K experiences.

Best,

Suzette Preston
Principal & Director of 4-Year-Old Kindergarten