Kirkwood School District doing "Kindergarten shuffle" to help students meet with teachers

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Kirkwood School District's first day of classes is set to begin in a little close to a week on Tuesday Aug. 20.

When that happens, a lot parents of kindergarten students in the district will enter the school year not knowing who which kindergarten teacher their child will get until a few days into the school year.

When the school year begins, a lot of kindergarten students in the Kirkwood School District will experience a "kindergarten shuffle". It's a chance for kids interact with all the kindergarten teachers before assignments are made.

Tillman Elementary is one of the schools in the district that does it and they have done the "kindergarten shuffle" at the school for the past five years.

"We saw we were spending a lot of time looking at our outgoing kindergartners and placing them intentionally into first grade classes," said Courtney Wells, kindergarten teacher at Tillman Elementary School. "We thought 'How can we do that at the start of the year with kindergarten students that we really don't know much about and how can we get to know them and do what's best for them?'"

Wells says they got the idea from a neighboring school district that was doing something very similar.

Wells says when they decide which teacher is paired with with students, it's really a team approach to determine the assignments.

"We take time every day to talk about our observations and our interactions," said Wells. "The students are with different children each day and different groupings go with different teachers. Based on all those conversations, we look at what we have learned about the students and what kind of groupings can we put them in so they can really have a successful school year."

Tillman Elementary School Principal Bryan Painter says there are a lot of benefits from doing the shuffle, including letting students get to know each other and each of the school's four kindergarten teachers.

"All of our kids develops that familiarity and comfort level with all of our kindergarten teachers," said Painter. "We have replaced that randomness with very intentional placements with our kids and our teachers so we are building the community that is going to be productive and one for the entire year going forward."