NEWPORT – Eight 4- and 5-year-olds will start school in January as part of a new preschool program in SAD 48.

The district board reviewed final plans for the preschool program at its regular bimonthly meeting this week.

The new program will complement the Head Start program operated by Penquis CAP at the Newport Elementary School. The new preschool program will accommodate children whose parents prefer a half-day program during the school year, according to SAD 48 Superintendent William Braun. The half-day sessions will be held in the afternoon.

The Head Start program already in place is an all-day, all-year program, he said.

“We hope to move to a morning program in the fall,” he said. “Our plans are to have about 15 children long term.”

The new program focuses on children who turn 5 years old after the Oct. 15, 2000, cutoff date for kindergarten for the current school year and before Oct. 15, 2001.

“There is adequate classroom and playground space at the Newport school,” Braun said. “SAD 48 will supply a teacher and Head Start will provide a teacher-home and school coordinator.”

The district is waiting for two certificates of approval to proceed with the new program. The State Fire Marshal’s Office will review the building for fire safety, and a day care provider’s license is required from the Department of Human Services.

The district also is waiting for official confirmation of a federal grant to fund after-school and summer programs for children throughout the district.

Earlier this year, the district applied for a 21st century grant and narrowly missed being funded.

A phone call from Sen. Susan Collins’ office informed Braun the grant would be funded after all.

The grant will supply up to $1.7 million to the district to help with the after-hours programming over a three- to four-year period. The first year of the grant carries an allocation of $617,000. The program originally was intended to begin last summer.

Receiving the funds late, the district will put together a more compressed program for the remainder of the school year, Braun said.

The money will allow the district to implement art at the elementary level as an after-school and summer program, and also fund field trips and similar programs that could not be funded in the regular school budget, he said.