Overton Schools Hosting Voluntary Pre-K Kickoff Night

The Overton County School System will hold Voluntary Pre-K Kickoff Night at each of the four county elementary schools Thursday.

Director of Schools Donnie Holman said the system gets some 75 percent of its pre-k enrollment as a result of these meetings. He said the district uses these events to survey families and determine how many students may be starting pre-k next school year.

“These meetings are very effective,” Holman said. “We’ve noticed in the years that this really eases the mind of the parents. Of course, many times, with this being pre-k, this is the families’ first experience with our school system.”

Holman said the district is prioritizing targeting income-eligible families. He said it is a great opportunity for parents to get paperwork taken care of and smooth out their child’s introduction to the Overton County School System.

“They’ve got a lot of questions in general,” Holman said. “This night really takes care of a lot of the apprehensiveness, so to speak.”

He said the system has been holding these events for about the past five years and has reaped enrollment benefits in doing so. Holman said the meeting will run from 4:30pm-6:00pm.

He said the event has become so important that during COVID, the school system held a drive-through version to ensure that parents had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the people who will be welcoming their children into a new chapter of their education.

“Communication is key for just about anything and everything, isn’t it,” said Holman. “For us to be successful at what we’re trying to achieve, we all need to be on the same page, and we all need to be making sure of what everyone else is doing.”

He said parents who are unable to attend can find most of the material discussed online and are welcome to contact schools or the district’s central office with any questions about launching their child into education.