Dist. 204 ready to launch all-day kindergarten

If current enrollment numbers are any indication, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 officials believe the switch to an all-day kindergarten format for will be a hit.

Deputy Superintendent Kathryn Birkett told board members Monday night that she's heard and seen the excitement from parents, teachers and children. But it's the numbers that tell the story.

"We currently have enrolled 1,899 kindergarten students and that's up 57 students from Sept. 30 last year," Birkett said. "And we have 27 students enrolled in half-day kindergarten, district wide and that's an afternoon session."

When the decision was made last year to switch to an all-day format, several parents were concerned that class sizes would grow too high, too quickly but Birkett said enough classes will be offered to keep class-sizes in check.

"Last year the average size of a class in kindergarten was 22.74 (students)," she said. "Currently, as we stand right now, it is 23.44 so we have gained only 3/4 of a student."

And director of elementary education Martha Baumann said they've done it without hiring many new teachers.

"When it was all said and done, most of our all-day kindergarten teachers are from our own buildings. They are not new to 204," she said. "In fact we hired four new teachers and all the rest are people who were just excited for the opportunity and asked to be moved."

The fact that so many of the teachers are already familiar with the curriculum, she said, will also help the district achieve its goal of raising student achievement in the areas of letter and number identification.

"We are going to have access to the curriculum and instruction and be able to go deeper and improve student learning," Baumann said. "So we have set a lofty, but attainable, goal that 90 percent of our kindergartners will meet or exceed expectations (on several assessments) so we'll have a point of comparison."

This past year, half-day students scored at about 80 percent in similar tests.

"We're all very excited about the possibilities," she said. "And we're already off to a great start."