When Away to Learn owner Melisa Thideman got the letter from the Tomah School District inviting her day care center to participate in 4-year-old kindergarten, she jumped at the chance.

“My reaction was ‘education is good,’” Thideman said. “Anything we can do to help the kids.”

When Tomah schools begin classes for the 2009-10 school year Tuesday, the most fundamental change will be the start of 4-year-old kindergarten. The district had registered 143 students for the half-day program as of Aug. 20, and the three non-school participants are an indispensible part of making the program work. Without the collaboration, it’s doubtful the district could have found sufficient classroom space.

“We clearly need the space and expertise provided by our partners,” Superintendent Bob Fasbender said. “They’re providing us with classrooms we don’t have to build.”

The program will be conducted at six different sites. Away to Learn, Noah’s Ark Christian Preschool and Tomah School of Childhood are the private partners.

The Tomah School of Childhood already has teachers certified by the Department of Public Instruction and has contracted with the district to get reimbursed $2,300 per student. The other two offer classrooms where DPI-certified teachers employed by the school district will conduct classes. Their reimbursements vary by building size.

Three public school buildings — Oakdale Elementary School, Warrens Elementary School and Timber PUPS Learning Center (formerly the Robert Kupper Learning Center) — round out the facilities.

Away to Learn may not look like an elementary school — there’s no gymnasium or large multi-purpose room — but private providers must meet DPI standards that mandate sufficient indoor and outdoor learning space and a defined classroom that separates the 4-year-olds from the rest of the children. The facility has a large fenced-in playground and a “nanny cam” security system.

An advantage to using a private day care is continuity. Away to Learn will hold one morning class, and the majority of its 16 students will remain for daycare in the afternoon.

“The comfort and continuity is important,” Thideman said. “Kids that age don’t always transition well. They like a routine.”

Existing day care arrangements were a factor in deciding where students are assigned. Parents with existing arrangements at partnering day cares received priority for their children to remain there all day. Students without arrangements at partnering sites were assigned based on geography.

Deb Granger, who coordinates the program and will teach a 4-year-old kindergarten section at the Timber PUPS Center, said no parents were denied their preferred site but couldn’t guarantee that will happen every year.

Granger is excited for the program to start. She taught 5-year-old kindergarten in the Tomah district for nine years, and she said the difference between children that get quality preschool and those that don’t is significant.

“I’ve had children who have never held a pencil or a crayon or a pair of scissors,” she said. “I’ve had children who don’t know their colors.”

Granger said the program offers a “play-based” curriculum that includes social, cognitive and language development. She said the half-day program eases children into full-day kindergarten the following year.

“It’s a shorter amount of time, and the half-day gets kids used to other kids in a school setting,” she said. “It’s an adjustment to be in school a whole day, especially if the child has been at home the first four years.”

She said 4-year-old kindergarten is also an issue of equity.

“We have many families that can’t send their child to a preschool based on ability to pay,” she said. “I think it’s important for children to get those social skills — getting along with others and solving problems.”

The program is voluntary, and Fasbender estimates 70 percent of eligible students have enrolled. He expects that figure to reach 90 percent within three years based on experience in other districts. The increased enrollment will help fund the program. State aid is based on enrollment and local property values.

Fasbender acknowledged that Tomah’s 4-year-old kindergarten was created soon after the district upgraded its 5-year-old kindergarten from alternating days to every day in 2004. At the time, Tomah School Board members said they weren’t looking to establish a 4-year-old kindergarten, but Fasbender said statewide momentum for 4-year-old kindergarten left Tomah as an outlier. He said the state began offering incentives to start the program, especially those that utilized private providers.

“The whole atmosphere changed when the state pushed 4-year-old kindergarten,” Fasbender said. “People would come in and ask, ‘Do you have 4-year-old kindergarten? Well, we’ll go to Sparta, or we’ll go to New Lisbon, or we’ll go to a parochial school.’ It was having an impact on our enrollment.”

Despite the tough economy, the 4-year-old kindergarten has met little public resistance. Fasbender said voters trust the district to offer programs that are educationally sound.

“I think people in Tomah realize we don’t ask for things we don’t need, and when we do ask for something we’re very frugal about it,” Fasbender said.