All Day Kindergarten

Last spring at this time your school board chose to invest over a quarter million dollars to implement All Day Kindergarten. We knew our financial situation then and knew that if the levies were not replaced we would be in deeper financial difficulty.
The board made the decision before the levy vote to avoid the impression of coercion. We believed the choice was correct whatever the outcome of the election.
The following comments were excerpted from recent discussions about how All Day K is working in your district.
Scott Kratche-Washington Principal. It was interesting at the beginning of the year because we were dealing with both first graders and the new all-day kindergartners learning how to do lunch, recess, etc. Next year though the kindergartners will already have those experiences and we will only be teaching the new kindergartners.
Courtenay Halliday-We don't have to continually rush to get things done. We are able to a lot more writing. I feel like students are mastering concepts rather than just being introduced to them. Never have to worry about being able to have reading and math every day.
Kellie Tekavec-We have more center time so students are much better at working independently. I felt like I could take the time at the beginning of the year to introduce all the centers and teach the students how to use the centers; therefore, they are learning more at the centers. Students have much better reading skills due to the extra time.
Nancy Foote-Parents are really enthused about student progress. One parent was emotional in talking about how much her student knew already in kindergarten and was able to read.
Tessa Hill-The extra time gives me more time to address behavior problems, come up with a plan and have the entire day to consistently deal with the problems.
Joe Finley-Putnam Principal. Teachers have adapted well to the change. I am seeing evidence of a lot more writing.
Michelle Gebczyk-I enjoy having a teaching partner with whom I can share ideas. Also feel I really know each student and where they are. Now only have to know 20-25 students rather than 40-50 students.
Pat Stephan-I feel I not only know the students better but also the parents. I'm able to display student projects since I only have one class. The kids have ownership of the room since they are not sharing everything with another class. Management of the room is much easier since I don't have to take everything down in the middle of the day and start over in the afternoon.
Cheryl Cook-Harmar Principal. Teachers know their students much better since they now have half the students.
Donna Kern-Students are able to work independently and they are excited about reading and writing.
Susan Hale-I enjoy having 2 new teaching partners to share ideas. Lunch count and lunchroom functions have been an interesting dilemma but through change things are working well now. I am giving my students a practice touchpad for them to take home during the summer to learn how to enter their student number for the lunchroom.
Robin Haught-I am amazed at how well students are responding to Project Read phonics instruction and are learning to read. I see students using Project Read finger spelling to decode new words.
Jessie Abrecht-I see writing as an area where I am able to spend more time and see students writing significantly more than they were able to write in a half-day.
Teachers predict first grade teachers will see a significant improvement in the mastery of material taught in kindergarten. All day kindergarten has been a great experience for those involved.
All Day Kindergarten is not an unfunded mandate. One might look at it as an unfunded necessity. Time will reveal its value.