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Junior Kindergarten

The beginning of an incredible journey

The formative years of a child's life are critically important to ensuring that child begins his or her academic journey with the tools he or she needs to succeed. As such, The Joseph Sears School Junior Kindergarten Program provides each student with experiences that contribute to positive social and emotional development, literacy and math concepts as well as fine and gross motor skill development to help children prepare for kindergarten.

 

The Pre-Registration Form opened on November 4, 2024, for families interested in enrolling their junior kindergarten-age student(s) starting in the fall of 2025. Students must have been born between September 1, 2020, and September 1, 2021, to be considered for the program. Enrollment will be decided by a priority list linked in the enrollment guide. If there is more interest than spaces, there will be a lottery at the end of pre-registration to determine final placement. For more information, please see our 2025-2026 JK Enrollment Guide.

 

If you want to learn more about the Little Adventurers half-day early childhood program offered on-site by TrueNorth, click here.

By The Numbers

2 certified teachers in each classroom

5 on-site support specialists to assist students,
including a licensed school nurse, a school psychologist, a speech/language pathologist, occupational therapist, and a school social worker.

A maximum of 14 students per class. Full Day and Half Day sections offered.

60 minutes of weekly French or Spanish instruction, as well as Music, PE, and Art.

Enrichment experiences including: Library and participation in school-wide assemblies and initiatives.

40 minutes daily in indoor JK-K play Hub.

Fast Facts

  • The Junior Kindergarten curriculum is both play-based and rooted in academic fundamentals. 
  • During online registration, a non-refundable payment of $14,000 (Full Day) or $8,000 (Half Day AM including Lunch) must be paid in full. The tuition rates were approved at the Board of Education meeting on October 14, 2024. 
  • The Junior Kindergarten Program runs from 8:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for the half-day program, and 8:15 a.m. to 1:55 p.m. for the full-day program. 
  • The Junior Kindergarten curriculum includes units in social-emotional learning, literacy, math, science and social studies along with instructional time devoted to specials such as music, library, physical education, Library, French and Spanish.
  • Junior Kindergarten includes a deep social-emotional learning component that emphasizes conflict resolution, self expression, listening and sharing. 
  • Junior Kindergarten is an excellent way to prepare students to enter kindergarten at The Joseph Sears School. Students will begin kindergarten familiar with their environment, classmates and specials teachers.
  • Junior Kindergarten literacy and math curriculum is aligned with Illinois State Early Learning Standards.