Preparing for all-day, every day kindergarten | Education

JENISON, Mich. (WZZM) - Many local public schools are in the midst of implementing all-day, every day kindergarten because the state will only offer full funding for that option starting this fall.

Half-day kindergarten programs will only get half the state funding.

Districts found out this month what the financial consequences of not following through are. While some are fighting the state, Jenison Public Schools is one of many districts moving ahead with changes.

Jenison already is a step ahead of the curve.

They're technically a half-day kindergarten district, but they started a K+ program two years ago, for kids to go full-day if they want to.

School leaders say there have been a few challenges, and hope all-day kindergarten smooths those out.

Sandy Hills Elementary teacher Deb Macaluso has only ever known half-day kindergarten. She teaches reading and math.

The other half of the day, most of her students head across the hall for K+. Just like it sounds, the program adds more time to the school day.

But this math is more than just adding and subtracting.

"Who can tell me who's on the back of the nickel," asked a K+ teacher to her students.

The program has proven to be a success with parents; 93 percent have signed up for the all-day program in Jenison's five schools since it started two years ago.

But Macaluso says Jenison can do even better.

"There hasn't been an opportunity to use our programs to their fullest extent because they were designed to use for full-day programming," she said.

Now that the state's requiring just that, she's helping the principal update the curriculum.

"We want to introduce more literature to our children," she said.

"They're planning on 120 minutes of reading instruction, 90 minutes of math instruction," said Kathy Keehn, Sandy Hills Elementary Principal.

That will allow teachers to incorporate the simple with the complex.

"We can explore themes, use math in a way where they use things as manipulatives, they can explore them," said Macaluso.

"We can teach in the morning, and revisit in the afternoon."

Even with K+ already in place, Superintendent Thomas TenBrink says going full-day will cost Jenison schools $650,000. He says he'd rather pay that than lose $1.2 million from the state.

But even with the high percentage of families in K+ now, Erika Van Singel can speak to what incoming kindergarten parents may feel.

She says while her extroverted daughter may thrive in this K+ environment, her other daughter wouldn't.

"With my oldest, I wouldn't have wanted her in a full-day kindergarten program just because of her personality," she said.

It's a choice many parents may not be able to make in the future.

TenBrink says Jenison will still offer half-day kindergarten as an option, if at least 20 children sign up.

The district would lose money, though, because it would only get half the funding from the state to offer the class.