The Brief

Every 4-year-old in California can now go to school for free in their local districts. The new grade is called transitional kindergarten — or TK — and it's part of the state’s effort to expand universal preschool.

In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature moved to expand transitional kindergarten in a $2.7 billion plan so that all 4-year-olds could attend by the 2025-26 school year. (Prior to this, TK was only available for kids who missed the kindergarten age cutoff by a few months). While it’s not mandatory for students to attend, districts must offer them as an alternative to private preschool.

As a free option, it can save parents a lot of money. Parents also must weigh how sending their kids into a school-based environment compares to a preschool they might already know and like, as well as other needs like all-day care, and how much play their child does.

One big question we’ve heard: What do kids actually do and learn in a TK classroom? Educators say it’s intended to emphasize play, but what does that mean?

A social skill students can learn in transitional kindergarten is how to take turns on the playground.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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To help parents get a better sense of this new grade as they make their decisions, LAist reporters spent the day in three different classrooms across the Southland. Here are five things we saw children do.

Get used to the structure and routines of school

For many students, transitional kindergarten is their first introduction to a formal school preschool setting. Crystal Ramirez sent her 4-year-old to TK at Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra, so he could get used to the rhythm and rigors of school.

“I didn't wanna put him straight into kindergarten when he was five, six, so he at least knows a routine, already,” she said. “Now, as soon as he sees that we’re in school, he loves it.”

TK students, like other elementary school students, follow a schedule: morning bell, recess, lunch, second recess and dismissal. They’re also learning how to listen to instructions or stand in a line. Some are learning to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

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All 4-year-olds in the state of California now have access to a free preschool program in their local school district. In this episode of Imperfect Paradise, we break it down with the LAist education team.

California's new public preschool program for 4-year-olds: Exploring transitional kindergarten

All 4-year-olds in the state of California now have access to a free preschool program in their local school district. In this episode of Imperfect Paradise, we break it down with the LAist education team.

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“ I wanna make sure that their first experience in a public school setting is one that is joyful, where they feel loved, where they feel welcomed, where they get to really transition nicely into like the rigor of the school,” said Lauren Bush, a TK teacher at Lucille Smith Elementary in Lawndale.

Claudia Ralston, a TK teacher at Marguerita Elementary, said it can be hard for young kids to get up early and leave their moms and dads. But seven weeks in, many of her students have learned their routines already. She helps with the morning transitions by turning on soft instrumental music in the classroom, and allowing them free play until they regroup on the mat to discuss the day.

“They're four years old. I want them to feel safe at school, know that this is a special place for learning and that they play,” she said.

Learn how to socialize and communicate

In TK, social-emotional learning is a big part of the curriculum. That’s a fancy word, but it just means they’re learning how to be in touch with their emotions

At Price Elementary in Downey, the teacher has her kids give an affirmation: "I am safe. I am kind. I matter. I make good choices. I can do hard things. All of my problems have solutions!" (They also have these sentences on classroom wall signs.)

The children also learn how to interact with their peers. In some schools, there are no assigned desks so the kids can learn how to share the space.

“ They're able to problem solve. They're able to use communication to get their needs, regulating their emotions. They do better than students who come in without this experience,” said Cristal Moore, principal at Lucille Smith Elementary.

On the playground, a student named Ava told teacher assistant Lizbeth Orozco that another student pushed her.

“How did that make you feel?” Orozco asked.

“Mad!”

Orozco encouraged Ava to express her feelings to her classmate.

Students learn how to balance and run during their second recess at Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra.

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Elly Yu

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LAist

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Price Elementary students practice sharing, along with their fine motor skills and identifying shapes.

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Julia Barajas

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LAist

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“ We give them options of how to solve a problem and then they go in and solve it themselves,” Orozco said. “If they need extra help, they always come back and we can help them.”

Arguing over toys can be a common occurrence in a TK classroom. At Price Elementary in Downey, educators help kids work through a solution. On a recent morning, one 4-year-old used two tongs to pick up paper shapes in a sensory bin, leaving another kid upset.

“What’s the rule about sharing?” asked Alexandria Pellegrino, a teacher who gives extra support for one TK classroom.

The boy handed over a tong to his peer. “Thank you so much for being a good friend,” Pellegrino said.

Teacher Claudia Ralston greets a student at the start of school at Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra.

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Elly Yu

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“[It’s]  about being kind friends and making friends and using our manners. So we do build that foundation at the beginning of the year,” said Samantha Elliot, the classroom’s lead instructor.

At the end of the day in Alvarez’s Lawndale TK class, she counts up the stars next to each student’s name earned throughout the day — earned for positive behavior like being kind, solving problems, trying something challenging, or showing effort in other ways. Ten stars earns a small prize from the treasure chest.

“If we don’t get something today are we going to get mad?” Alvarez asked the class.

“No!” they responded.

“I’m not going to cry!” one boy piped up, followed by his classmate and a “Me too!” from another student.

“That’s [a] positive attitude,” Alvarez said. “Because tomorrow you can get more stars!”

Get exposed to numbers, shapes, letters

In Elliot’s TK class, students use their own little lightsabers to trace letters in the air.

“They're learning the letter, the sound, and then a little action to go with it. They're wiggling and moving and they're also learning those letter sounds and they don't really realize, so it's incorporating instruction,” she said.

Students in Lauren Bush's TK class practice tracing their names in paint.

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Mariana Dale

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There’s no mandated curriculum in TK, but instruction is supposed to align with the state’s Preschool/Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations. “Kindergarten is basically where the state standards go and kick in. There are standards in TK, but it's a little bit different,” said Tom Kohout, principal at Marguerita Elementary.

Students might put playdough into letter molds, or the teacher might pull out toys from a bag that all start with a letter “E.” Kids will play with little plastic toys that connect — or “manipulatives” — that can help them recognize numbers and patterns.

“It’s play with a purpose,” Ralston said. “They're just being introduced to the numbers, the colors, writing. But again, we're not doing worksheets.”

Build fine motor skills

Molding pretend cakes with kinetic sand. Connecting small LEGO bricks. Cutting playdough. It might not seem like much, but children this age are still learning how to use their bodies.

“Tearing paper is really hard and it's a really amazing fine motor skill for them because the same muscles you use to tear paper are the same muscles that you use to hold a pen or a pencil,” said Lauren Bush, a TK teacher at Lucille Smith Elementary in Lawndale.

In Lawndale Elementary teacher Lauren Bush's classroom, students practice fine motor skills. "It's been a really interesting experience to watch them figure out how to make the balls go faster, slower."

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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The light table is one of several "centers" in Lauren Bush's TK classroom at Lucille J. Smith Elementary in Lawndale.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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“You see kids playing with dinosaurs. I see kids sorting by color, doing visual, you know, eye hand coordination and visual discrimination. I see them using their fine motor skills,” she said.

At lunch, kids learn how to open up a milk carton or open a packaged muffin. At PE, they learn to balance on a block or walk in a straight line — learning spatial awareness.

“They’re learning how to run, stop, things like that and playing because their bodies are so young,” said Principal Kohout.

Learn independence

For some kids, it might be the first time where mom and dad aren't there to help carry their backpacks or help them go to the bathroom. TK is meant to help focus on their independence, though aides can help.

TK classrooms are also usually set up with play centers, so kids can have the choice to explore on their own.

“ I want them to be independent, to be able to solve their problems, you know, with assistance,” Ralston said.

Samantha Elliot, the TK teacher in Downey, says she encourages kids to talk to their teammates first to figure out an activity before going to a teacher.

“It's just gaining the confidence and building that independence from basically the start of the school year,” she said.

Parent Crystal Ramirez has already noticed a change in her 4-year-old this year since starting school. “ [He’s] socializing a little bit more, talking a little bit more, trying to express himself as well.”

Share your experience

Nine Democratic House members from California are demanding information about how the Trump administration is treating unaccompanied migrant children who are pregnant and in federal custody. They’ve signed a letter, along with 39 other House Democrats, to Trump officials expressing their concern that the girls are not receiving adequate medical care or access to abortion.

The letter comes in the wake of an investigation by the California and Texas Newsrooms, public media collaboratives in those states. LAist is part of The California Newsroom.

The joint investigation found that the federal government is detaining pregnant migrant girls in a single group home in South Texas. Doctors and reproductive-health experts interviewed for the investigation said prenatal care is severely limited in that region.

The letter says the detention violates federal regulations because the children are “entitled to the full range of medical care, including reproductive health care.”

Rep. Gil Cisneros, who represents the central San Gabriel Valley, says he worries that pregnant migrants who are apprehended in California will be put at risk if they’re sent to a part of Texas that is short on obstetric care. Of particularly concern: High-risk pregnancies are common among minors.

“If they were in California," he said, "they would be able to have more choices of the type of health care that they would get when it comes to reproductive health care.”

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents the West San Gabriel Valley, wrote in a statement that “this administration is so intent on restricting abortion that it is using immigration detention as a tool to control these girls’ bodies.”

Mark Betancourt is a regular contributor to The California Newsroom. 

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating how the Los Angeles Unified School District responds to educators accused of sexual misconduct with students.

The department accuses the district of maintaining a policy that “automatically” reassigns teachers to other schools when they are accused of sexual misconduct with students and cites a 2024 agreement with the teachers union.

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson wrote in a statement that it’s “not true” that staff being investigated for sexual misconduct are reassigned to other school sites.

“‘Reassignment’ typically means an employee is directed to remain at home and away from students and schools during an investigation,” the spokesperson wrote.

United Teachers Los Angeles called the DOE's accusations a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the district’s reassignment policy.

“[Employees] are not reassigned to another classroom or to any other setting where they would interact with students,” read a statement provided by the union. “This policy protects both students and staff and creates conditions for a thorough and appropriate investigation of allegations.”

What to expect from the federal investigation

The federal investigation, overseen by the department’s Office for Civil Rights, will assess whether the district’s policy violates Title IX, a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.

Kimberly Richey, the assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in a statement that Title IX requires schools to address claims of sexual misconduct in a “timely manner.”

“It is unconscionable that the district would simply ignore Title IX’s procedural requirements to protect teachers who cause life-changing harm to their kids,” Richey wrote. “The Trump administration will always fight to uphold the law, protect the safety of all students and restore common sense to our schools.”

The Trump administration also has recently targeted LAUSD's desegregation policy and transgender student protections.

Last year, the office failed to resolve any cases related to sexual harassment, sexual violence or racial harassment, according to a report released by Sen. Bernie Sanders in late April. Sanders is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Education Committee.

In March 2025, the Trump administration pushed to cut over half of OCR’s nearly 600 staff members, which contributed to a growing backlog of cases. Those employees were placed on administrative leave pending the result of legal challenges, and many were later brought back.

The Education Department has also withheld records related to civil rights investigations, prompting a lawsuit from investigative nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.

What does LAUSD’s policy say? 

LAUSD protocol related to employee misconduct says administrators must remove accused employees from their classroom or worksite whenever there is a risk to the safety of students or staff.

The 110-page protocol document also lists several other requirements for allegations related to sexual misconduct, including contacting law enforcement and the agencies that license teachers.

“Los Angeles Unified takes all allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment with the utmost seriousness,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement. “Our primary responsibility is to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of every student and staff member in our care.” The statement also said the district follows Title IX procedures and continuously reviews its policies, training and reporting systems.

The UTLA settlement outlines several circumstances where an employee can be reassigned, including a law enforcement investigation of misconduct, sexual harassment of a student, behavior toward a student perceived to be motivated by a sexual interest and communicating with a student for non-school-related purposes.

School employees are “mandated reporters” who must, by law, notify local law enforcement or child welfare agencies of suspected child abuse or neglect. California Attorney General Rob Bonta reminded K-12 school district leaders in late April of their legal obligation to prevent sexual misconduct and protect students.

How prevalent is sexual misconduct in California schools?

There have been few comprehensive studies of sexual misconduct in schools. A 2004 report to the Department of Education estimated 1-in-10 students experiences sexual misconduct, ranging from inappropriate comments to physical abuse.

A new California law requires schools to train students and staff to recognize and report misconduct and write new policies on “appropriate behavior.” It also will create a new database of educators credibly accused of abuse.

More than 1,000 lawsuits related to sexual abuse that date to the 1940s have been filed against California school districts since the enactment of a 2019 law that gave victims a three-year window to sue.

LAUSD has authorized $750 million in bonds to pay for sexual misconduct settlements related to suits stemming from the law.

The LA County Library has begun its Summer of Soccer program to bring the excitement of the North American tournament to all Angelenos.

“Soccer has a unique way of bringing people together across cultures and communities,” Skye Patrick, director of the LA County Library, said on the library website.

The program kicked off May 1 with the library system offering limited-edition Summer of Soccer library cards, emblazoned with the library logo, the outline of a soccer pitch and a ball hitting the back of a net.

The new limited-edition Summer of Soccer library cards

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Courtesy LA County Public Library

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The cards are available for free for anyone signing up for the first time and for $1 for people who already have an LA County Library card.

From soccer story time to making circuit boards

There’s a whole range of Summer of Soccer events at branch libraries, from May 20 to July 9.

Highlights include a soccer-themed story time for 2- to 5-year-olds at Graham Library, north of Watts at 3:30 p.m. June 4, while at 3 p.m. the same day, the A C Bilbrew Library west of Compton hosts “Makey Makey for Teens,” which will lead youth through the steps to make their own game controllers and test them on a virtual soccer field. This and other programs repeat at other branches.

All Summer of Soccer events are free and are designed to support youth and families during the summer months when school is not in session.

The LA County Library serves more than three million residents through its 86 libraries and four Cultural Resource Centers, as well as Bookmobiles and other outreach vehicles.

Last weekend, a group of about 20 people chatted and drank wine on the sidewalk outside a small but packed gallery on Wilshire Boulevard. Inside, there was a display of black-and-white photographs showing the tunnels that made the first phase of the D Line extension possible and the workers who brought the vision to life.

Now, after a decades-long history of setbacks, the first phase of the extension will open to the public on Friday.

“ I think it's going to be a critical piece of the transit infrastructure going forward in L.A. and a game changer for those in somewhat of a transit desert,” said Auguste Miller, a transit rider and volunteer with transportation advocacy group Streets for All.

Workers on the D Line extension, standing in front of a tunnel boring machine.

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Kenneth Karagozian

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The exhibition is a celebration of the workers who built the extension, said India Mandelkern, a historian and author who curated the photographs by Ken Karagozian and wrote a book about the extension called Wilshire Subway.

Jenna Durrough, a union carpenter, helped build the concrete forms that became new station platforms and stairways.

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Kenneth Karagozian

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At the 1301PE gallery, which sits just a three-minute walk away from the future Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue station, union carpenter Jenna Dorrough reflected on her time building the concrete forms that became the new station platforms and stairways.

“When you're in the midst of just being a worker and just trying to do your job, you don't realize the bigger picture, like what you're really a part of,” Dorrough said.

The extension

The D Line train currently shuttles people from Koreatown to downtown L.A., largely running parallel to the B Line. The first phase of the extension cost more than $3.5 billion and was mostly funded by a countywide sales tax.

The approximately 4 mile-long extension will add three new stops along Wilshire Boulevard through Miracle Mile until Beverly Hills, providing direct rail access to places like The Grove, Museum Row and Beverly Center.

“Angelenos and visitors alike will love the extended service from Downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills, delivering greater access to the iconic and culturally diverse communities, institutions and destinations that define the deep history along Wilshire Boulevard,” L.A. Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins said in a statement.

A trip from downtown L.A. to Beverly Hills will take just over 20 minutes on the new extension, according to Metro.

Unlocking Wilshire Boulevard

Bobby Downs is the general manager of All Season Brewing, a short walk from the La Brea Avenue stop. Downs said the brewery will offer a discount to people who show their TAP cards opening weekend and is preparing a double hazy IPA in celebration. The special brew is aptly called the D.

“Having a Metro coming in from downtown is gonna be beneficial in general for the area,” Downs said, adding that he believes it should alleviate some of the concerns from patrons and locals about parking in the neighborhood.

The extension’s opening coincides with the unveiling of the L.A. County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen museum galleries, which will be accessible via the Fairfax Avenue station.

“Connection, between the past and the present and between cultures, is a major theme within our new building,” Michael Govan, the museum’s director, said in a statement. “Metro's extension in the Miracle Mile will be an incredible resource that will foster greater inclusion and connection within our region.”

Jerry Blackburn, the senior manager and director of public events for the Fine Arts Theatre, said he’s looking forward to the opening of the train, which includes a stop close to the theater on La Cienega Boulevard.

“We’re hoping it will expose more people to the theater,” Blackburn said. The theater hosts private events and 70 mm screenings, including an upcoming Tim Burton double feature this Memorial Day weekend and DC Superhero series this summer.

A vision realized in fits and starts

As Mandelkern writes in her book, early concepts for a Wilshire Boulevard train date back to the 1960s. Familiar roadblocks that face transit planning today, including lack of financing and public support, stymied the initial attempts at building the train.

Construction was set to begin in the 1980s after L.A. County voters passed a half-cent sales tax to partially fund rail projects. Then a methane gas explosion in 1985 destroyed a Ross Dress for Less store on Fairfax Avenue and injured 23 people, leading to a ban on using federal funds to do the tunneling needed for the Wilshire Boulevard subway.

Decades later, Metro asked a panel of tunneling experts to weigh in on the safety of tunneling. The panel’s analysis, published in 2005, agreed that in the 20 years that had passed, tunneling technology improved. The panel concluded that it is “possible to both safely tunnel and safely operate a subway along the Wilshire Boulevard corridor.”

L.A. County voters approved another half-cent sales tax in 2008, which provided the local funding needed to materialize the idea of a train under Wilshire Boulevard. Approximately six years later, Metro held the groundbreaking for the extension with an estimated opening in 2023. Difficult tunneling conditions and contract disputes, among other expected hurdles uncommon to large capital projects, led to some cost overruns and delays.

John Yen, the vice president of operations for Skanska, the prime contractor on the project, said his teams had to work through gluey, asphalt-like tar sands and gassy conditions underground.

“The Fairfax station is actually the first in L.A. Metro history [that] we successfully excavated this tar sand,” Yen said.

Not the end of the line

Two more extensions of the D Line will bring the train through Beverly Hills and Century City to Westwood. Those future extensions are scheduled to open before the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games.

In the meantime, you can check out the exhibition by Mandelkern and Karagozian until May 14 at 1301PE.

Over the next several weeks, Metro is hosting several D Line station activations, including basket weaving and salsa classes.