With 571 students being served in three years, the 4-year-old kindergarten  program in Muskego-Norway School District is posting very positive numbers, according to an administrative report.

The program began with the 2010-11 school year and has seen steadily increasing enrollment (208 students are currently enrolled for this year), but will need board approval to continue. Statewide, 88 percent of school districts have 4K programs.

The school board met Monday night to review the report, which gave the following statistics:

• Benchmarks for number knowledge were achieved by 94 percent of 4K students compared to 88 percent of students who did not attend 4K.
• Letter identification for these students upon reaching first grade also showed 94 percent reaching benchmarks, with only 35 percent of students in first grade who had not attended 4K doing so.
• Reading benchmarks in first grade also showed some disparity, with 4K students reaching them 83 percent the time compared to 66 percent of non-4K students.
• Parent responses to the program were also strongly positive, with 100 percent saying they would recommend the program to others and that the program has met their expectations.
• After losing $252,000 in the first year, the program had a surplus of $47,000 in 2011-12 and $4,200 this year.
• By implementing 4K in 2010, the district gained $1.2 million in state aid this year and had a $489,000 reduction in property taxes this year.

The board vote on Dec. 17 whether to continue the program in 2013-14.