Kindergarten, Here We Come!

The DeKalb County Community Foundation is proud to announce the distribution of 949 Kindergarten Readiness Toolkits to families across all eight public school districts and three private schools in DeKalb County.

Designed to support early learning and development, the toolkits equip parents and caregivers with engaging resources to help young children build essential skills for a successful start to kindergarten.

Each toolkit offers a well-rounded educational experience, including a children’s book, dry-erase board and marker, flashcards with a social-emotional focus, an easy-grip pencil, counting dice, scissors, Play-Doh, crayons, and a Farm Matching Memory Game. These items promote literacy, fine motor skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, and cognitive development.

“The toolkits sparked real excitement in our preschoolers—they couldn’t wait to start kindergarten,” said Tammy Agnello, a kindergarten teacher at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Sycamore.

Since the program’s launch in 2018, over 7,000 local children have received a toolkit. The initiative supports the critical transition from pre-K to kindergarten and reflects the power of community partnerships, including generous donors, Thrivent Financial, School Tool Box, DeKalb County Farm Bureau Agricultural Literacy, and BASICS DeKalb County.

For more information on the Community Foundation’s work to support early care and education in DeKalb County, visit dekalbccf.org/kindergarten-readiness.

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