Board of Education to Consider Expanding Extended Day Kindergarten Program

A proposal to expand the extended day kindergarten program will be on the Board of Education’s agenda tonight.

Currently eight Canton students and seven Hartford students are part of pilot program in which they attend morning kindergarten at Cherry Brook Primary School then stay for an afternoon session.

The proposal for next year is to expand the program to two equally sized extended day sessions with total of 38 students – 10 from Hartford and 28 from Canton. Under the proposed plan, Canton parents would pay $3,500 in tuition.

The tuition would allow the school to expand the program, put some funds back into the program and bring some money in for the district, Assistant Superintendent Lynn McMullin said.

The school also gets $4,500 per Hartford student under Department of Education Open Choice Academic and Social Supports Grant Funding, which is administered by the Capitol Region Education Council.

Parents with children in the program would still pay less than they would for a day-care program, McMullin added. The board plans to look at the numbers more closely tonight (April 26, 2011.) 

The real reason to extend the program is due to its success, she said at the board’s last meeting.

“It is based on excellent data coming out of the kindergarten program,” she said.

Cherry Brook principal Andy Robbin was also at the last meeting and agreed the program, which emphasizes math and science, is going well.

For example, in September, only 33 percent of the students in the program were at the target level for reading, he said. By January, 66 percent were on target and another 22 percent were already at an end-of-year level, he said.

“The data is showing these kids are really taking off,” he said.

At its most recent meeting, board members had some praise, input, questions and a few concerns.

Leslee Hill said she hoped initiatives such as a meeting between Hartford and Canton students at the Bushnell could continue. 

“I hope we can find ways to continue this community building,” she said.

One concern, brought forward by member Patti White, was the issue of space at the school. While this program may bring in funds, it may result in more money being spent to allot for space needs at the school, she said.

Under the proposed 2011-2012 budget, the school is also planning to add an additional third-grade section.

Superintendent Kevin Case said an architect is looking at possible ways to reconfigure some space at the school but specifics have not been detailed.