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Kindergarten Is Coming to IOTA Leadership Academy

A tuition-free public kindergarten on the UA Little Rock campus, opening Fall 2027.
Where five-year-olds become readers, thinkers, and leaders.

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Join Our Interest List

Seats are limited for our founding kindergarten class.

Welcome to ILA Kindergarten

Kindergarten is where a love of learning begins. At IOTA Leadership Academy, we give every student a joyful, structured start built on strong reading and math foundations, caring relationships, and high expectations.

Our kindergarten is part of IOTA Community Schools Arkansas, a public charter network relentlessly pursuing excellence, guided by fostering relationships, accountability, determination, and justice. We believe leadership starts early: in how children treat classmates, take responsibility for their work, and keep trying when something is hard.

When your child joins our founding kindergarten class, your family joins a community that will know them by name and help them grow with confidence.

What Makes ILA Kindergarten Different

Small Classes, Big Attention

Our small classes mean teachers truly know each child: how they learn, what excites them, and where they need support. Every student gets the attention they deserve.

Strong Readers from Day One

Daily phonics, read-alouds, and small-group reading help every child build the skills to read with confidence.

Math That Makes Sense

Hands-on lessons with counting, shapes, and patterns build number sense children use every day.

Little Leaders

Classroom jobs, kindness routines, and goal-setting teach responsibility, teamwork, and self-confidence.

Families as Partners

Regular updates, conferences, and family events keep you connected to your child's progress.

Getting Ready for Day One

You are your child’s first teacher, and the months before kindergarten are a great time to build skills together. Your child doesn’t need to master everything on this list. A little practice each day, kept fun and low-pressure, goes a long way.

Reading together

  • Read aloud for 15–20 minutes every day, and talk about the pictures and story.
  • Practice recognizing the letters in your child's name, then other letters you see on signs and labels.
  • Play rhyming and sound games, like “What starts with the same sound as ball?”

Counting and numbers

  • Count everyday objects together: stairs, snacks, toys, cars.
  • Practice counting to 20 and recognizing numbers 1–10.
  • Name shapes and colors, and sort items by size, color, or type.

Doing things on their own

  • Use the bathroom independently and wash hands without help.
  • Put on a jacket, work zippers, and open lunch containers and snack packages.
  • Clean up toys and put belongings away.

Getting along with others

  • Take turns, share, and use words to express feelings.
  • Follow simple two-step directions, like “Put your shoes by the door, then wash your hands.”
  • Practice short times apart from you, like a playdate or time with a relative.

Small hands, big skills

  • Draw and color with crayons and markers.
  • Practice using child-safe scissors and gluing.
  • Work on writing their first name, starting with a capital letter.

Healthy routines

  • Shift to a school-night bedtime and wake-up time a few weeks before school starts.
  • Schedule a well-child checkup, plus vision and hearing screenings.
  • Make sure immunizations are up to date; they're required for kindergarten in Arkansas.
DarShauna Shepherd, principal of IOTA Leadership Academy

Meet Our School Leader

DarShauna Shepherd serves as the principal of IOTA Leadership Academy, bringing over a decade of years of experience in education. Shepherd earned her Educational Leadership degree from Arkansas State University and has served as a pre-school teacher, middle school teacher, high school teacher, middle school and high school principal. Shepherd believes every leader deserves a joyful, rigorous start to school and is honored to lead ILA’s founding kindergarten class.

Join Our Team

Enroll in ILA Kindergarten

Ready to join our founding kindergarten class? ILA is a tuition-free public charter school, and seats are limited.

Enroll Now

Stay Connected

Campus tours will be announced November 2026. Join our interest list, and we’ll let you know as soon as tour dates are set. You’ll also get enrollment updates and news about our founding kindergarten class.

Join the Interest List

Contact Us

Have a question about kindergarten at ILA? We’d love to hear from you.

Address

IOTA Leadership Academy
2801 S University Ave
Little Rock, AR 72204
(UA Little Rock campus)

Phone

501-330-IOTA (4682)