Like any parent with a child about to start junior kindergarten, Jason Quammie is a bit apprehensive.

“She’s my first child. I want to do my best to get her ready,” he says.

But Quammie isn’t only thinking about whether Layla, 4, will make friends or learn to read. He is all too aware that Black students may face additional barriers.

“There are a lot of stereotypes around Black children in the school system,” he says. “I worry about her confidence.”

The Durham District School Board shares his concern. Last fall, the board released a Compendium of Action for Black Student Success, aimed at tackling “systemic racism.”

A DDSB pilot program that took place this summer addressed both kindergarten readiness and confidence building for Black students.

It was part of Great Beginnings Start at the DDSB, a free preschool program launched by the board this year.

Great Beginnings is designed to help students make a successful transition to kindergarten. The program is critical at a time when data shows many children are arriving at school without the necessary social and emotional skills.

After running at 12 DDSB schools from February to June, two special versions of Great Beginnings were offered this summer as a pilot program — one for Indigenous students and one for Black students.

“We hear through the voice of the Black community that structural racism and poor racial and ethnic identity pose as risk factors that work against positive well-being among our Black students,” says Stacey Lepine-Fisher, senior manager of early years for the DDSB.

She says getting kids ready for kindergarten in a setting that validates their culture can have a big impact.

At the Great Beginnings program for Black students, students were taught by Black educators, allowing them to see themselves reflected in role models. They danced to cultural music, explored books featuring Black characters and were invited to bring in items from home that celebrate their heritage.

“The program is excellent, the teachers are excellent,” Quammie says.

His daughter Layla liked the glitter Play-Doh — but the soon-to-be kindergartner was also taking in the positive messaging.

“I like me,” she said, when asked what she has been learning.

At the Indigenous program, students heard the Turtle Island creation story, studied the seven grandfather teachings and learned about talking sticks by crafting their own out of tree branches.

Lepine-Fisher says if the Great Beginnings summer program continues next year, the board will look at creating versions for other minority groups, such as South Asian or Muslim students.

Since 2006, the DDSB has gathered information on kindergarten students through a questionnaire teachers fill out called the Early Development Index (EDI) — the next round of data will be available this fall.

It measures a child’s development in areas such as emotional maturity and social competence. Results are grouped into one of three categories — vulnerable, at risk or on track. Vulnerable means students scored in the bottom 10th percentile.

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In 2015, the DDSB gathered EDI data on 4,294 senior kindergarten students. That year, 29.4 per cent of Ontario students were “vulnerable” in one or more of the EDI areas.

The local numbers were slightly higher, with 29.7 per cent of Durham Region students vulnerable in one or more areas, and 31.1 per cent of DDSB students.

Lepine-Fisher says EDI scores in kindergarten can be a “very good predictor” of future success at school.

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