By Sara Beth Williams–
The San Juan Unified School District plans to add four new Transitional Kindergarten classrooms at Citrus Heights public schools this coming school year, district officials say.
The district will be adding an additional TK classroom to Arlington Heights Elementary, Cambridge Heights Elementary and Lichen K-8, making it two TK classes at each of these schools, San Juan Unified School District Director of Communication Raj Rai said in June. The school district is also adding a full TK class at Mariposa Avenue Elementary. The school previously had a combo TK/Kindergarten class.
Transitional Kindergarten classes exist as a transition between preschool and kindergarten, and have traditionally been offered to four- and five-year-olds whose birthday falls before a certain cutoff date. The classes are offered as free public education, instead of as paid childcare. The cutoff date has moved forward every year since the initial roll out of transitional kindergarten began.
Officials say TK was introduced in the district in 2014. The program matched the kindergarten offering at each school site, with some classes operating full-day and other half-day. Rai said less than 10 Transitional Kinder classes were offered initially.
TK classrooms, like Sara Burkett’s class at Arlington Heights Elementary in Citrus Heights, offer children the opportunity for both limited, age-appropriate academic group instruction, and play-based learning opportunities.
TK programs typically incorporate art, music, physical education, outdoor play, indoor play, and small group and large group activities. During the day, students practice fine motor skills like bracelet making, writing, drawing, coloring, painting, gluing, and cutting.
While instructors in Transitional Kinder utilize state preschool standards to evaluate children from ages 3 to 5 in a variety of academic, physical, and social emotional areas, transitional kindergarten classrooms are arranged in a way that facilitates both academic learning and play-based learning.
Burkett’s class is arranged in different areas where kids can explore things like reading, making bracelets or other art projects, building with blocks, Legos and other manipulative, and playing pretend. During a visit to Burkett’s class at the end of May, Burkett said one of her instructional aides helped build a camping and rafting play area complete with a tent, a child-size inflatable raft, and a waterfall as a backdrop to simulate a river with rapids.
Throughout the day, students will learn everything from how to sit and listen, group cooperation, how to share, take turns, solve problems, and regulate emotions, to writing and sounding out letters and numbers, counting up to 100, and how to form easy words and even simple sentence building,
A transitional kindergartner’s schedule varies based on the school they attend. Arlington Heights’ lunch period begins sometime after 10 a.m., since the school releases for the day at 2:10 p.m.– where other schools will have lunch much later on, and release students after 3 p.m.. All Transitional Kinder classes will offer students the chance to eat at least one snack, either before lunch or after lunch, and most classes will offer two periods of outside playtime throughout the school day.
Burkett’s class, which was first established at least a decade ago, says Arlington Heights Principal Rafael Martinez, incorporates lots of free play in the afternoons, following a restful, relaxation period. Officials said San Juan Unified TK classrooms do not have a scheduled nap time. However, many classrooms provide a quieter period during the afternoon for activities such as free play, centers or other low-key learning experiences.
California’s roll-out of free Transitional Kindergarten was one of the largest expansions in public early childhood education. The first original rollout began in 2010 for children whose fifth birthday fell between September and December of the school year. Not all children were eligible and some schools only offered half day or shorter “extended” day programs.
Beginning in 2021, the state passed Assembly Bill 130, which made TK eligible for all children whose birthday fell before a certain date. Each school year, the date moved forward, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, allowing more four-year-olds to be eligible to enroll.
As of the 2025-26 school year all children who turn four by September 1 of the school year are now eligible for Transitional Kindergarten, which means some children will be three years old and 11 months when entering the school year.
While Transitional Kindergarten is free, families are not required to enroll their children by law. TK is available regardless of income, immigration status, race or zip code.
In addition to these four schools in Citrus Heights, the district is opening an additional classroom at Mariemont Elementary and at Gold River Discovery Center, officials said. To submit enrollment for Transitional Kindergarten, families can visit the district’s website here to find enrollment information and deadlines.
