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Middletown schools announce all-day kindergarten
All Middletown kindergartners will attend school for a full-day next year, according to a release from the district.
The district will use a state aid called poverty based assistance to fund all-day kindergarten at all its elementary schools, said Communications Specialist Debbie Alberico. Poverty-based assistance is an additional state aid given to schools with high numbers of students living in poverty.
The number of economically disadvantaged student in Middletown increases each year. In 2006-07, about 59 percent of students were classified as economically disadvantaged.
Typically, kindergarten students attend school half-day, but in recent years educators, stressing the importance of early learning for future success, have pushed initiatives for all-day kindergarten.
Middletown has had some all-day kindergarten classrooms in some buildings in previous years, while other students attended half-day. The district also offers preschool district-wide but the classrooms are located at Amanda, Rosa Parks, Creekview and Wildwood.
Look for more on this in Thursday’s Journal and see the district’s press release after the jump.
The Middletown City School District is very excited to announce that all day kindergarten will be offered in every elementary school throughout the district next year. According to district Assistant Superintendent for Learning Evelyn Altherr, comprehensive early learning programs provide a strong foundation for social and academic success. “The all day kindergarten program will be an essential component starting our students off in the right direction,” said Altherr. “Preschool is offered to three and four year old children, district wide, at Amanda, Rosa Parks, Creekview and Wildwood elementary schools. Head Start will move into the Central Academy on First Ave. next year after Central Academy moves into their new building on Sophie Ave. There will be plenty of opportunities for our youngest students,” she added. All day Kindergarten programming is funded through Poverty Based Assistance which is provided by the state. “As the number of students living in poverty increases, our funding increases,” said Altherr. “We are now to the point that we can fund all day kindergarten in all of our buildings with PBA.” Preschool and kindergarten registration is currently in progress. For more information, call 423-0781.
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Comments
By Teresa Cunningham
April 3, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
I think the move to all day Kindergarten will help bring about the much needed boost to the Middletown districts standardized testing scores and overall student retention. There are so many children in the district who don’t have the opportunity, due to their families financial constraints, to have the benefit of structured instructional daycare prior to entering kindergarten. Without this experience, many of our children struggle to catch up with those children who’s parents could afford this kind of daycare. This is definitely a move in the right direction and I applaud those who are making this happen for the children in our district.By Mindi Dickson
April 3, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this
I think all day Kindergarten should be offered but the half day option should be kept as well. It makes for a very long day for four and five year olds. It was difficult for my children to make the adjustment when they went to first grade. My youngest son fell asleep on the bus three different times and he was an older first grader. They will be in school all day for at least the next twelve years, they should be allowed to acclimate to all day school by having a shorter day than the older kids.