Jump Start students play Thursday, July 12, 2018, at Bristow Elementary School. (Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Incoming kindergartners danced in a Bristow Elementary School classroom Thursday as they counted to 100 during this year’s Jump Start kindergarten program.

With only about half of Kentucky students ready to start school, the program is one step Warren County Public Schools is taking to help students start school on the right foot.

“We want to give them the best possible start that we can,” said Christina Sanders, a site coordinator for the program at the school. “It’s a chance for them to refresh and refine the academic skills that they gained during preschool.”

Along with helping students preserve those academic skills, Sanders said the program allows them to adjust socially to a structured school setting. Students get to dip their toe in everyday school routines they’ll be expected to master.

“Sometimes it’s the first time that they’ve ridden the school bus,” Sanders said.

Kindergarten readiness remains a critical need across Kentucky.

State data from the 2017-18 school year showed that only slightly more than half – 51.4 percent – of Kentucky students entering kindergarten were deemed ready.

A similar trend has been seen at the local level through an 18-month research project conducted by the United Way of Southern Kentucky, which found that nearly 50 percent of children in southern Kentucky are entering kindergarten unprepared.

That puts students at risk of falling behind, including a lack of literacy skills they’ll need to learn independently later in their school career.

Literacy and math are a big focus in the jump start program, Sanders said. The program doesn’t teach to any kindergarten screener test and takes a less short-sighted approach.

“The skills that we’re teaching are going to be meaningful skills to them,” Sanders said.

That included an activity to build an “elephant bridge.” The task required students to use popsicle sticks and paper towel rolls to build a bridge that would hold 21 tiny plastic elephants. Students figured out how to make the bridge wide enough and came up with their own designs.

Despite only being the first week of this year’s program, preschool teacher Alyssa Benton said she’s already seen progress from students. That includes greater independence, she said, adding pre-K students can be needy because they lack the social skills to work on their own.

“I think they’re doing really well,” she said.

The program helps students work on letter and number recognition, writing their names and other pre-literacy skills.

Along with introducing students to a school environment in a low-key way, Benton said “you also get to see where they are.”

When it comes to preparing students for school, Benton said the most important thing parents can do is practice vocabulary by reading and talking to their kids. Parents should think about what they want their child to be able to know about shapes and colors and engage them in those skills, she said.

At a minimum, teachers look for letter recognition of 13 letters and being able to count from one to 10.

“Try to allow time for your child to be independent,” she said, stressing another key skill for students.

Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton seemed impressed with the program during a visit Thursday. He said research shows that many students with academic achievement gaps were not prepared when starting school. It can also be a challenge to educate students who move around a lot, he said.

“That’s our biggest challenge is how do we overcome those disruptions in student learning,” he said.

The Jump Start program is one way. Currently in its second year, the program has seen good participation, Clayton said. The program mainly targets at-risk kids, and it uses partnerships with the United Way of Southern Kentucky and the Warren County Public Library.

“We want to partner with parents and provide additional resources” for students, he said.