Having met the standards of their curriculum and stood in front of family and friends, the students proudly walked off stage to begin the next chapter.

“I present to you the Poughkeepsie High School graduating class,” Principal Nadine Elting-Dargan announced, “of 2037.”

College may still be a few years off for the 71 young learners who completed pre-kindergarten with a moving up ceremony at the Early Learning Center June 21. Still, parents and teachers agree on the importance of celebrating each step along the way while keeping the end goal in sight – even for students whose ages can be counted on one hand.

“This is their first introduction to education,” Elting-Dargan said. “If I never hear about college, if I never hear about graduating high school, then that’s not a vision for me.”

The class moving up to kindergarten performed a slew of children’s songs on Friday, including “The Alphabet Song,” “Open Shut Them,” “Down by the Bay” and others.

Chynna Green said her daughter, Chyne’ Brown, had been practicing the performances.

“She comes in and sings the songs. Even in the tub she sings. She likes to record herself singing,” Green said. “It’s pretty exciting. I’m happy for her.”

In greeting the families, Elting-Dargan emphasized the progress teachers have seen since the fall.

“We have watched them grow, come in the doors very, very shy, afraid to speak. And now, they are able to walk through the halls, they are able to deliver messages, some of them are reading. They know their letters, they know their numbers,” she said.

Robin Kravitz, whose daughter Rylie Kravitz is moving up to kindergarten, called the ceremony “wonderful,” saying “they have great teachers” at the Early Learning Center.

“Rylie has grown since the beginning of the school year,” she said. “She counts. She knows her ABCs. She’s been writing her name. And she uses words I’ve never known her to use before.”

The teachers spoke to the audience in both Spanish and English, talking about not only the skills students learned but also becoming more comfortable socially and emotionally. The students also recited their ABCs in both languages.

As summer arrives and the students will be out of school for more than two months, Elting-Dargan reminded parents to follow their own set of ABCs:

“For us, the ‘A’ stands for attitude. ‘B’ stands for behavior. And ‘C’ stands for character,” she explained. “If your attitude is correct, then your behavior will follow. If your behavior follows that positive attitude, then your character will speak for itself. I encourage you as parents to be a role model. You are your child’s first teacher. So, continue to be that role model for them.”