By Richard Bammer
Gretchen Higgins Elementary kindergarten teacher Penny Casalegno sat in a chair in her sunny room, C-1, and looked out at more than 20 of her students sitting cross-legged and quietly on a rug in front of her.
“Did anyone dream about school last night?” she asked but got no definitive replies.
Then she began to read, in English, a story about a student’s first day of school, the text touching on the same things that her mostly 5-year-olds were experiencing Wednesday, the beginning of the 2014-15 academic year in Dixon Unified School District.
Casalegno (pronounced “CAHSAH-lee-no”) quickly finished the story, with the main character humorously telling his parents, “Don’t cry mom and dad — kindergarten is cool.”