By the end of the year, the percentage of students in extended day kindergarten achieving at or above the benchmarks set by the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS) went from 0 percent to 68 percent. Among similar students in the half-day program, 40 percent achieved those benchmarks.
The percentage of students in extended day kindergarten in need of intensive help fell from 84 percent at the beginning of the year to 12 percent by June, Sick said. In the half-day program, the percentage fell from 84 percent to 36 percent, he said.
Sick said extended day program students gained about 23 months of growth in basic skills compared to less than 17 months gain for similar students in the half-day program.
"I'm so excited about how the year turned out," said Anne Vincenti, who taught the class at Scotland. The longer hours, smaller class size and small group instruction allowed the students to learn "in a relaxed atmosphere," she said.
"We are preparing the district and the community for the full-day kindergarten program throughout the district," said Catherine Dusman, assistant superintendent for Elementary Services.
Two years from now, the program could be expanded to include Buchanan, Gordy, King Street, Grandview and Sharpe elementary schools, Dusman said. Those schools and Stevens are Title I schools, Dusman said, meaning they qualify for federal assistance for economically and educationally disadvantaged students.
"The earlier we can educate these children on the building blocks of reading and math ... the more successful they will be for the rest of their lives," Dusman said. Full-day kindergarten, she said, "will be the most powerful tool we, as educators and a community, can put in place for our children."
"All-day kindergarten needs to be a priority in this district ... all the research shows us that's the way to go," Superintendent Joseph Padasak said Thursday.
Padasak said all-day kindergarten will require additional classrooms to be added. Most of the district's approximately 600 kindergarten students at 17 schools attend either morning or afternoon classes.
