Pre-kindergartners at World Language Academy got a special treat Thursday morning.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle visited the school as part of Georgia Pre-K Week and read the book "Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes" to the 4-year-olds.

"I enjoyed being with you guys this morning, and I appreciate your attentiveness," Cagle told students after reading the story.

In a prepared statement, Cagle said he was proud Georgia's pre-K program is making a difference in children's lives.

"It was a real pleasure to read to the children and see what we're doing to help some of our youngest citizens succeed," he said.

Prior to the reading, Cagle toured World Language Academy's immersion pre-K classroom, one of six in Hall County. He watched as the English, Spanish and Chinese teachers taught students in the different languages.

"It was precious," said Carrie Woodcock, dual language coordinator for Hall County Schools. "During the time he was reading we used a video conference to project his reading the story to all the other pre-Ks."

Georgia Pre-K Week was created by Voices for Georgia's Children, according to Susan Adams, assistant commissioner for pre-K at Bright from the Start, the name of Georgia's pre-K program. She said the association contacted every legislator and invited them to visit a pre-K site in their district.

"It's to educate the legislature about what goes on in pre-K programs and show the value it has for our constituents," Adams said.

Georgia's first lady Sandra Deal and Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning personnel also visited classrooms around the state this week.

"Georgia Pre-K Week is an exciting opportunity to showcase the hundreds of quality pre-K centers we have in Georgia," Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children, said in a news release from the lieutenant governor's office.

"Our hope is that the state's leaders carry this experience with them into the coming legislative session and make decisions that will improve the overall well being of Georgia's children, especially those in pre-K."

Some 60 percent of children in the state are served in Georgia's pre-K program. Close to 4,000 classrooms have an affiliation with Bright from the Start. More than 11,000 4-year-olds are in Head Start, a pre-K collaboration between the state and federal governments, according to data from Bright from the Start.

Nearly 15,000 students in Hall County and Gainesville have been enrolled in pre-K since the program began in the 1990s. Students typically become enrolled in a pre-K program through a first-come, first-served system or a lottery.

"If they have a lottery, usually it means they'll take names through a certain amount of time. Then they draw ... sometimes it's almost out of a hat," Adams said.

"There's not really a way to get a preference in the lottery. Many times the school system with an elementary school would give preference to students in that (school's) district, following the same attendance guidelines as older children."

The Georgia legislature passed a law changing the amount of students allowed in a pre-K class. Previously it was 20 students, but this year it is 22 per class.

There is no statewide pre-K lottery. Decisions on registration and enrollment procedures are up the school system when they apply for their grant to have pre-K money from the state and federal governments, Adams said.

Woodcock said Hall County received enough interest when officials wrote their pre-K grant that they chose to do a lottery system instead of first-come, first-served.

"We proposed that our lottery would have certain priorities," she said. "The No. 1 was that siblings would get first priority, so that families would not be separated as much as possible."

Susan Culbreth, director of early learning for Gainesville City Schools, said Gainesville's pre-K is also a completely random draw.

"We have a wide variety of kids who have never left mom to kids who've been in daycare since they were 6 weeks old," she said.

Some of Hall County's Georgia pre-K classes, like the one at World Language Academy, are unique.

"This is an immersion program. We wanted linguistically balanced classrooms. We tried to pull half of the students out of ones who speak English and the other half from another language group," Woodcock said. "The reason for this is they receive instruction in Spanish and English, so they work together and learn together."

The five other immersion classrooms that use this form of split lottery are White Sulphur Elementary, Sardis Enrichment School, Martin Technology Academy of Math and Science and Chestnut Mountain Elementary.

Gainesville has eight Bright from the Start classrooms.

Adams said the only state guideline is that those in Georgia pre-K must live in the state.

Students don't have to live in Hall County to get into the district's Georgia pre-K program, Woodcock said.

"They don't ride the school buses here in Hall County. If the parents are interested and willing to drive to wherever the school is, they can apply," she said.

Georgia pre-K is just one pre-elementary model for students, Adams said. There are tuition-based preschools, faith-based programs and Head Start, the federally funded pre-K program as options for parents.

If a child doesn't get into any sort of pre-K program, parents can do a lot to teach their kids prior to kindergarten.

"Read to the child, increase their vocabulary, talk to them if you're taking them places," Adams said. "A really strong vocabulary and experiences to draw on will help them when they do enter school."

Pre-K classes involve a lot of activities to develop fine motor skills, coordination and early learning skills, such as how to draw some letters and better vocabulary.

"A 4-year-old's concept is playing, but for us there's developmental concepts to it," Culbreth said.

There is a waiting list for Gainesville students who don't get into a pre-K program. Like Hall County, the city schools try to keep families together to assist with transportation and continuity.

"We regularly get positive feedback. They're usually very grateful for getting a spot in the lottery," Culbreth said. "I wish every child in Georgia had this opportunity. Maybe some day they will."

Staff writer Jeff Gill contributed to this report.