Pasadena May Let ‘Poor’ 4-Year-Olds Start Kindergarten

Four-year-olds may be able to start kindergarten in Pasadena next fall through a privately financed program tentatively approved Tuesday by the city’s school board.

School officials said the “early intervention” program for disadvantaged youngsters would provide an educational boost to children, who must now wait until age 5 to begin kindergarten.

Ada Hand, child-development consultant for the state Department of Education, said she believes Pasadena is the the first district in the state to take action on the program, which has been urged by state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig.

Hand said that beginning formal education by at least age 4 is “a growing trend” in other states and is mandatory in New York. Kindergarten is not mandatory in California schools.

630 May Be Eligible

The program is designed to provide an extra year of preparation for the first grade. It would be aimed at children from poor areas who will be age 4 by Sept. 2, but would not be open to all Pasadena 4-year-olds, said Joseph P. Linscomb, a deputy superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District. Linscomb said the program would target “the poor, urban-core” child.

Pasadena officials estimated that 630 children--out of about 2,000 citywide who will be 4 years old by Sept. 2--would be eligible.

Completion of the program would not allow children to enter the first grade any sooner.

The program would differ from Head Start and other preschool programs offered in Pasadena by placing more emphasis on classroom instruction and on preparing children for later classroom experience.

The school board approved the program in concept after Richard Riordan, a Los Angeles attorney and businessman, and Dorothy and John Shea of Pasadena announced that they would provide half of the $1.4 million needed to run the kindergarten the first year. Shea has a construction business in Walnut.

Riordan, who heads a foundation that provides money for early childhood education, and the Sheas said they will help raise the rest of the money and will continue their own donations after the first year.

Linscomb said he is sure the district will raise the rest of the money so that the program can begin in September.

State financing is not available for the program, which was urged in a report last March by the state Department of Education. The report recommended that California public schools begin offering preschool programs for children as young as 3 years, 9 months, especially for those whose language and home environments are likely to slow their ability to learn in classrooms.

“I think we’re pioneers,” Linscomb said.

The program is aimed at building the self-esteem of disadvantaged children. It would emphasize development of English skills and offer nutritional, medical and dental care, and psychological services. Children would also receive instruction in using computers.

Riordan, who last year gave $275,000 worth of IBM computers and software to Los Angeles schools, said he hopes the Pasadena curriculum will help build youngsters’ self-esteem.

“I got interested in this because, just based on any kind of logic, there’s something wrong when you look at a class of 5-year-olds and know that half will be dropouts,” Riordan said. “If we capture them early, we can give them confidence in themselves.”

Riordan said the reason he and the Sheas chose the Pasadena school district for the program is because the Sheas are longtime residents of the city.