When asked how the planning is moving forward for the Altoona 4-K planning committee, Altoona School District Early Childhood Special Education Teacher Susan Hintgen said, “I am amazed at the number of people willing to be involved.”

   At the latest committee meeting on Friday, September 5, there was once again a good turnout of volunteers interested in contributing ideas to the program, which is scheduled to be implemented during the 2009-2010 school year. 
   According to Hintgen, the Altoona Children’s Council has become the umbrella organization for the 4-K program. During the meeting, committee members reviewed the bylaws and a mission statement from the council to ensure they coincided with the goals of the 4-K program. 
   In addition to reviewing those items, committee members also decided to include a new committee in their planning process. The plans now call for an enrollment and registration committee, which will be made of up several volunteers. The volunteers will ensure that all forms are properly created. 
   “We need to make sure that they are acceptable to what’s required by the Department of Public Instruction,” Hintgen explained. Members of the enrollment and registration committee will be reviewing other area schools’ paperwork to generate ideas for Altoona’s own forms.
   Also at the meeting, the fiscal committee reported that they will be meeting with potential day care partners within the community. Committee members will focus on meeting with the personnel during the upcoming Child Development Day on Thursday, September 18, where providers will have booths representing their facilities.
   In other action, the curriculum and instruction committee reported that they are recommending the use of Creative Curriculum for Preschools, which is a foundation-type curriculum.
   “This is a very well-known and widely used curriculum in preschools,” Hintgen said of the curriculum. Later in the year, Chippewa Falls-based CESA 10 will offer training in this curriculum – training that the 4-K committees will encourage local day care providers to attend. 
   Although planning is moving along, the 4-K committee is still seeking additional entries for its naming contest. As part of the contest, community members will be able to submit ideas at Child Development Day as well as on the Altoona School District website. As Hintgen has mentioned in the past, they want the naming and logo to be a “community-based decision.” General ideas, logo suggestions, and naming proposals are always welcome and can come from Altoona residents as well as those outside of the community. 
   All in all, things are going extremely well for the future of Altoona’s 4-K program.
   “We still have lots of work to do, but there has been an incredible amount of work done so far,” Hintgen stated. “Everyone is very supportive of the 4-K program and there is a lot of excitement about it.”
   The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Friday, October 3 at 10:00 a.m. in the school district’s board office.