After receiving a lot of positive response about extended kindergarten, the Mt. Laurel School District has officially opened registration for the program’s inaugural 2014–15 year.
The Board of Education approved an extended kindergarten option, along with fees and a schedule, at last night’s action meeting. The program will begin in September and is open to any children who are registered for regular kindergarten classes in the school district.
The extended kindergarten option is not tied into the regular kindergarten curriculum. It will be a center-based learning system as originally proposed and will reinforce skills, with a focus on social-emotional development, according to the district.
“The program will consist of an active learning center approach that is appropriate for a 5-year-old,” Superintendent Antoinette Rath said.
Rath spoke briefly about the program prior to the board’s passing of the resolution. She said registration for the program is open and will run through April 15.
“We have the ability to host two sections of extended kindergarten in each of our elementary schools,” she said.
Each school will have one morning session and one afternoon session. The session will include two and a half hours in the classroom, along with a 45-minute lunch and a 45-minute recess. The morning session will run 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., prior to the student’s afternoon kindergarten classes. For students taking morning classes, they can be in the afternoon extended session from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The tuition fee for the program will be $400 per month. A $75 fee is required at the time of registration. The entire program is being paid through tuition.
Right now, the school district is looking at filling the available spots for each session. Rath said each section must have a minimum of 10 students to operate next year. There will be a maximum of 25 students for each section.
“If it becomes necessary that we go beyond the 25 per building, we will conduct a lottery,” Rath said.
Susan Keane spoke at the meeting on behalf of the Countryside Elementary School PTO. She said parents are very excited about the new option, but there was concern about the short amount of time for registration.
Keane is worried the lack on information could negatively affect registration numbers.
“Some of the moms who have incoming kindergartners said they’re excited, but there’s not a lot of information out there,” she said.
Rath said while the district has to have a cutoff for registration, she believes there’s enough interest to reach the minimum class numbers throughout the district.
In other news:
• The board passed a revised calendar that moves the final day of school for students to June 25. The school year will be 180 days, rather than the 182 originally scheduled. In addition, eighth grade graduations at Harrington Middle School are scheduled for June 23 and 24.
• The next Board of Education meeting is a work session on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. The next action meeting will be on Wednesday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will include the public hearing on the 2014–15 budget.
