All-day K
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Lynze Wardle
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lwardle@standard.net
Top of Utah schools anxious to expand benefits
CLEARFIELD -- Longer school days are in the near future for some of Top of Utah's youngest students.
Davis, Weber and Ogden school districts each received state funding to expand their full-day kindergarten offerings.
The program keeps kindergarten students in class longer than the traditional morning or afternoon session. It is a concept that benefits both parents and children, said Clearfield resident Brittany Springer.
Springer's daughter Vanessa attends Wasatch Elementary School, the only place in the Davis district that currently offers full-day kindergarten. The program is more convenient for working parents, Springer said, and has given her daughter an academic head start.
"(Vanessa) came home and started reading to me one day, and I thought, 'Wow, you can already read.' "
All-day kindergarten will be expanded to nine elementary schools in the Davis district.
Another seven schools will get extended-day kindergarten programs, said District Elementary School Director Craig Poll. The program allows students to stay for an hour and a half longer than a traditional kindergarten schedule. Two of the seven schools will host a combination of extended-day and full-day classes.
The expansion comes thanks to state lawmakers, who earlier this year approved $30 million in one-time funding for the program to be distributed over the next four years.
Davis School District received $562,000 per year of that money, Poll said.
"This is a great thing, and this is something we've hoped for," he said. "We're excited to make it work."
Weber School District currently has four elementary schools that host all-day programs. The district will receive $300,000 per year to create an all-day program at a fifth school next year, said district curriculum supervisor Jane Ann Bitton.
Ogden School District will use the $446,000 in state funding it receives to help pay for existing all-day kindergarten programs, said Reed Spencer, the Ogden district's executive director of curriculum and assessment.
The district offers all-day kindergarten at all of its elementary schools, Spencer said. In the past, he said, the district has made budget cuts in other areas so it could provide the all-day program.
"It has been a huge investment by the district," Spencer said. "This (state funding) is very, very welcome relief."
The goal of extended and all-day kindergarten programs is to give students extra help early in their education, before they have a chance to lag.
"In essence, it levels the playing field," said Ericela Ambriz-Garcia, a full-day kindergarten teacher at Wasatch Elementary School.
The Davis district will apply the new program in Title Ischools, which receive federal funding because they have a high proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Students at these schools are statistically more likely to fall behind their peers in core subjects, Poll said.
"The children make wonderful progress," Wasatch Elementary Principal Kathleen Scott said of the program. "They are so ready for (first grade) to begin. Many are already reading, and socially, they've adjusted to the school climate."
Poll expects the popularity of full-day kindergarten to outpace classroom space.
This year, Davis district students entering kindergarten will be tested in June. Those who are found to need extra help will fill half of the available spots.
The other desks will be filled using a lottery system.
Students entering the full- or extended-day kindergarten program will be tracked throughout their elementary-school years, Poll said, so officials can determine if the extra kindergarten hours improve test scores.
He hopes the district will continue to receive funding for the program, but said expansion of the program may be limited by building space and a shortage of early childhood education teachers.
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