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Post by title1parent on Aug 12, 2008 5:01:15 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=227041&src=76Dist. 204 ready to launch all-day kindergarten By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald Staff Published: 8/12/2008 12:05 AM 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."
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Post by title1parent on Aug 12, 2008 5:24:25 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1102797,6_1_NA12_D204BOARD_S2.article All-day kindergarten program proves popular with parentsAugust 12, 2008 SUN By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com The all-day kindergarten program Indian Prairie School District 204 is introducing this fall is proving to be popular with parents. As of Monday, 1,899 students had enrolled in District 204 kindergarten classes, and just 27 had requested placement in a half-day class. That class will meet in the afternoon at Clow Elementary School, and, because 27 students is the most the district will allow in a kindergarten class, it will be divided in half if there are any more half-day enrollment requests. Martha Baumann, District 204's elementary education director, said that while the mission of District 204's kindergarten program will essentially remain the same, a transition to all-day kindergarten will have a "ramping-up effect on the students and the district's curriculum." "But, in all-day kindergarten, we are going to have great access to the curriculum and the instruction and be able to go deeper and improve student learning in that way," she said. That's because these kindergartners will receive roughly twice the amount of instruction of past kindergarten classes. Baumann said the district expects them "to be able to hit the ground running" when they get to first grade, rather than having to spend much of the fall being brought back up to speed. "This year we're going to have first-graders on a certain reading level, with kindergartners right on their heels," she said. "We've never had that before. It's exciting."
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 12, 2008 8:15:00 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1102797,6_1_NA12_D204BOARD_S2.article All-day kindergarten program proves popular with parentsAugust 12, 2008 SUN By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com The all-day kindergarten program Indian Prairie School District 204 is introducing this fall is proving to be popular with parents. As of Monday, 1,899 students had enrolled in District 204 kindergarten classes, and just 27 had requested placement in a half-day class. That class will meet in the afternoon at Clow Elementary School, and, because 27 students is the most the district will allow in a kindergarten class, it will be divided in half if there are any more half-day enrollment requests. Martha Baumann, District 204's elementary education director, said that while the mission of District 204's kindergarten program will essentially remain the same, a transition to all-day kindergarten will have a "ramping-up effect on the students and the district's curriculum." "But, in all-day kindergarten, we are going to have great access to the curriculum and the instruction and be able to go deeper and improve student learning in that way," she said. That's because these kindergartners will receive roughly twice the amount of instruction of past kindergarten classes. Baumann said the district expects them "to be able to hit the ground running" when they get to first grade, rather than having to spend much of the fall being brought back up to speed. "This year we're going to have first-graders on a certain reading level, with kindergartners right on their heels," she said. "We've never had that before. It's exciting." Forgot to mention that the forecast as late as March from the SD was for 2019 kindergarten students this year - they are down 6% ( 120) from that forecast. I know maybe they will add them in the next week- but also last year for most schools the end of year number was also lower than the start. It will be interesting to see the rest of the grades when the start numbers are released.
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Post by momto4 on Aug 12, 2008 8:22:26 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1102797,6_1_NA12_D204BOARD_S2.article All-day kindergarten program proves popular with parentsAugust 12, 2008 SUN By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com The all-day kindergarten program Indian Prairie School District 204 is introducing this fall is proving to be popular with parents. As of Monday, 1,899 students had enrolled in District 204 kindergarten classes, and just 27 had requested placement in a half-day class. That class will meet in the afternoon at Clow Elementary School, and, because 27 students is the most the district will allow in a kindergarten class, it will be divided in half if there are any more half-day enrollment requests. Martha Baumann, District 204's elementary education director, said that while the mission of District 204's kindergarten program will essentially remain the same, a transition to all-day kindergarten will have a "ramping-up effect on the students and the district's curriculum." "But, in all-day kindergarten, we are going to have great access to the curriculum and the instruction and be able to go deeper and improve student learning in that way," she said. That's because these kindergartners will receive roughly twice the amount of instruction of past kindergarten classes. Baumann said the district expects them "to be able to hit the ground running" when they get to first grade, rather than having to spend much of the fall being brought back up to speed. "This year we're going to have first-graders on a certain reading level, with kindergartners right on their heels," she said. "We've never had that before. It's exciting." Forgot to mention that the forecast as late as March from the SD was for 2019 kindergarten students this year - they are down 6% ( 120) from that forecast. I know maybe they will add them in the next week- but also last year for most schools the end of year number was also lower than the start. It will be interesting to see the rest of the grades when the start numbers are released. Apparently a lot of kindergarten parents register at the first day of school so it will be interesting to see what the Sept. 30 numbers are (for K and all grades). The Brooks principal sent e-mail looking for several volunteers to spend time helping kindergarten students with lunch the first week of school between 10:45am and 1:15pm.
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Post by gatordog on Aug 12, 2008 9:49:41 GMT -5
For comparison, last year's 1st grade total was 2200 students. And K had 1849.
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 12, 2008 10:09:48 GMT -5
For comparison, last year's 1st grade total was 2200 students. And K had 1849. yep they predicted ( and counted on ) an increase in K due to all day K. First grade last year was 2210 to start - however their porediction for this year is 2069 - down 141 students (-6%) . We'll see how accurate that is - a lot of empty houses after people moving - economy is not helping that market. Prediction/forecats for 2nd grade was also down 140 YTY. Sine their predictions for the following year is only up slightly - it appears that the all day K uptick does not equate 1:1 by any means to 1G -
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Post by rural on Aug 12, 2008 15:59:04 GMT -5
On the upside, if enrollment is down, that may reduce the class sizes or even free up a classroom or two.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on Aug 12, 2008 16:21:17 GMT -5
From what I've heard from a mom who opted for half-day this year - they are really putting the screws to parents to go with the full day option. She was called 3x after turning in her half-day registration to make sure she didn't want to change her mind. As of last Thursday, despite many phone calls to the school, she still didn't know if her daughter was morning or afternoon. She was also told that they have to offer a half day option by Illinois state law, but that next year, the option will NOT be advertised. So, is this really popular with the parents as these articles say, or has the SD just made it very unattractive to opt out?
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we4
Junior
Let's Go Yankees......Let's Go Yankees
Posts: 204
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Post by we4 on Aug 12, 2008 17:46:58 GMT -5
I will have a Kindergartner next year and to I am having alot of reservations right now about all day K for him. He will be starting his first year of preschool his year (couldn't do 3 yr old preschool and afternoon K last year). He is a young boy (as in turned 4 in June). He also gets very tired and will at times still take naps. This all could change as he goes through preschool. I really would like to have the option of 1/2 day K if he just isn't ready for all day.
Also, there are a few (or maybe more than a few) K teachers not all that thrilled about all day K. Just like I'm sure there are some that love the idea.
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 12, 2008 18:09:02 GMT -5
I will have a Kindergartner next year and to I am having alot of reservations right now about all day K for him. He will be starting his first year of preschool his year (couldn't do 3 yr old preschool and afternoon K last year). He is a young boy (as in turned 4 in June). He also gets very tired and will at times still take naps. This all could change as he goes through preschool. I really would like to have the option of 1/2 day K if he just isn't ready for all day. Also, there are a few (or maybe more than a few) K teachers not all that thrilled about all day K. Just like I'm sure there are some that love the idea. It also adds more kids to the Safe & Sound program from the Y - more kids per person there too. Not everyone will be picking up their K kid when school is done.
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Post by specialneedsmom on Aug 12, 2008 18:16:05 GMT -5
I think the benefits for most children outweigh the negatives. Having worked in morning kindergarten for 1/2 year I think most of the kids could have done an all day program provided they were given the proper supports. If it was available when my kids were little I would have done it. Just my opinion.
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Post by eb204 on Aug 12, 2008 19:16:02 GMT -5
I will have a Kindergartner next year and to I am having alot of reservations right now about all day K for him. He will be starting his first year of preschool his year (couldn't do 3 yr old preschool and afternoon K last year). He is a young boy (as in turned 4 in June). He also gets very tired and will at times still take naps. This all could change as he goes through preschool. I really would like to have the option of 1/2 day K if he just isn't ready for all day. Also, there are a few (or maybe more than a few) K teachers not all that thrilled about all day K. Just like I'm sure there are some that love the idea. It has to be an individual decision and it's nice that the option will always be there (as state of IL dictates at least) for parents that choose 1/2 day. It was reported at SB meeting that many teachers were requesting to be put BACK into Kindergarten classes as there were some teachers that were very excited to be offering full day cirriculum to these youngsters. IIRC, they only had to hire 4 teachers from outside the district to fill K positions. All the rest were filled with current staff members but from other grades.
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Post by Arch on Aug 12, 2008 21:56:11 GMT -5
I will have a Kindergartner next year and to I am having alot of reservations right now about all day K for him. He will be starting his first year of preschool his year (couldn't do 3 yr old preschool and afternoon K last year). He is a young boy (as in turned 4 in June). He also gets very tired and will at times still take naps. This all could change as he goes through preschool. I really would like to have the option of 1/2 day K if he just isn't ready for all day. Also, there are a few (or maybe more than a few) K teachers not all that thrilled about all day K. Just like I'm sure there are some that love the idea. It has to be an individual decision and it's nice that the option will always be there (as state of IL dictates at least) for parents that choose 1/2 day. It was reported at SB meeting that many teachers were requesting to be put BACK into Kindergarten classes as there were some teachers that were very excited to be offering full day cirriculum to these youngsters. IIRC, they only had to hire 4 teachers from outside the district to fill K positions. All the rest were filled with current staff members but from other grades. Begs he question if the other grades saw enough of a drop in enrollment to free them up (ie: bubble went through already) or if they are hiring/did hire other teachers to replace the ones who shifted to Allday K...?
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Post by eb204 on Aug 12, 2008 23:00:43 GMT -5
It has to be an individual decision and it's nice that the option will always be there (as state of IL dictates at least) for parents that choose 1/2 day. It was reported at SB meeting that many teachers were requesting to be put BACK into Kindergarten classes as there were some teachers that were very excited to be offering full day cirriculum to these youngsters. IIRC, they only had to hire 4 teachers from outside the district to fill K positions. All the rest were filled with current staff members but from other grades. Begs he question if the other grades saw enough of a drop in enrollment to free them up (ie: bubble went through already) or if they are hiring/did hire other teachers to replace the ones who shifted to Allday K...? IIRC, the positions that were vacated to teach All Day K were filled.
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Post by Arch on Aug 13, 2008 0:07:23 GMT -5
Begs he question if the other grades saw enough of a drop in enrollment to free them up (ie: bubble went through already) or if they are hiring/did hire other teachers to replace the ones who shifted to Allday K...? IIRC, the positions that were vacated to teach All Day K were filled. If only 4 had to be hired for K, then is it known how many more had to be brought onto payroll to fill the vacancies created from the shift-over? I heard the number of 91 positions being tossed around last fall when they voted on it but never heard any number since. If that number was true and held, then simple math says 91-4 (87) were hired to implement the program. Does anyone have a more accurate or recent number?
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