Sagg to Add Kindergarten

The Sagaponack School District, which educates children in first through fourth grade in its own school and sends those in the higher grades to neighboring districts, has announced plans to provide early childhood education in the next two years. In the 2015-16 school year, a kindergarten class will be added and the district will pay tuition to send children to half-day pre-K programs in nearby school districts. The following year, it will drop fourth grade, sending those children to neighboring districts.

Alan Van Cott, Sagaponack’s superintendent, said the proposed $1,772,505 budget had been adjusted accordingly, with $25,000 for kindergarten equipment and supplies and $42,000 for tuition for a projected six students to attend prekindergarten in Sag Harbor or at the East Hampton Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center. Details of the latter arrangement are to be discussed by administrators, he said, because the Eleanor Whitmore center will have a full-day pre-K program next year.

“We have existing staff to cover the implementation of kindergarten,” Mr. Van Cott said Friday, noting that teachers will develop the kindergarten curriculum over the summer. “We will see ourselves as an early primary school, so we’re going to equip ourselves that way.”

Mr. Van Cott described the move to an early childhood focus as “natural.” Sagaponack is projecting enrollment of about 13 students in kindergarten through grade four next year. Its enrollment this year is 11, while the school is built to house about 16 children.

“It’s a special place, and we can really personalize education,” Mr. Van Cott said.

The Sagaponack School Board also recently approved new tuition agreements with the East Hampton School District, including a one-year contract for grades five and six and a five-year contract for grades 7 to 12.