Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the teacher/student ratio?
A. Tot Center 4:1; preschool:7:1; the ratio in elementary does not exceed 12:1

Q. What is the teacher turnover at Kirk?
A. Kirk has a staff of 45, with the average length of time of 16 years.

Q. How long has the Director been here?
A. The present director, the second one to assume the position, has been at Kirk 10 years. The founding director was here 39 years.

Q. What grades/ages does Kirk serve?
A. A child may enter the Tot Center at 20 months. Elementary school goes through 5th grade. Kirk also has Parent and Me classes for children under 20 months.

Q. What after school enrichment activities are available?
A. Enrichment classes vary from year to year. Most years we offer Cooking, Story Time, and Music and Me for preschoolers. Classes for elementary children include chess, Martial Arts, Archery, Robotics, photography/yearbook, Arts for All and a very popular performing arts program.

Q. Is there parent involvement?
A. Parents, Teachers, Friends (PTF) is a very active and important part of Kirk life. While their fundraising activities help provide the “extras” for the school, their community building activities insure a rich, family environment for students and parents of Kirk.

Q. What enrichment is in the curriculum?
A. Kirk offers as part of the school day art, music, physical education, technology, Spanish, science, library, all taught by single subject teachers.

Q. What is the length of the school day?

Preschool
9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Child care is available for all ages from 7:00am – 6:00pm

Q. Do you have a summer program?
A. Yes. The summer program runs 7 weeks, usually from mid June to the end of July or early August.

Q. Do you have hot lunch?
A. Yes. The lunch is catered by Parties to Go.

Q. When was the school founded?
A. The preschool opened in 1961 as an outreach of Kirk O’ The Valley Presbyterian Church. The elementary school opened 1st grade in 1992. A grade a year was added until reaching its present configuration of K – 5th.

Q. Do you have a secure campus?
A. Our campus is fenced with keypad entry at the front and rear gates. We have cameras with a monitoring system in the school office.

Q. Are you a year-round school?
A. Our fall program runs from September to June. We have an seven week summer program beginning in mid June through July.

Q. Do you have before and after care?
A. Yes. Child care is available from 7:00am – 6:00pm every school day, and most days during winter and spring break.

Q. Do you teach religion?
A. No. We are a faith friendly school with an emphasis on character development and common values that all religions share. We encourage our families to practice their individual faiths.

Q. Are your teachers credentialed?
A. Yes. Our teachers are credentialed, some with advanced degrees. Kirk bases its curriculum on the California State Standards. Our teachers have had advanced training in differentiated instruction, in teaching the gifted, and in Singapore Math.

Q. What is Singapore Math and why do you choose to teach this curriculum?
A. Singapore Math has been proven world wide to be the most effective approach to teaching math to elementary children. (See “Singapore Math” on our Home Page.)