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‘K Everyday’ coming next year |
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By Patrick Tepoorten
The North Branch School District saw significant declines in kindergarten enrollment this school year. To combat that it plans to begin an all-day/every-day pilot program next year.
The program, called “‘K’ Everyday,” was given tentative approval at the Jan. 31 School Board working session, and will be tuition-based, costing families $2,750 for the school year, with a sliding scale for those who qualify for reduced and free lunch.
Currently the district has all-day/every-other-day kindergarten, which will continue, with K Everyday being billed as “another option” for parents.
A survey of parents with children around kindergarten age returned 38 responses favorable to K Everyday, and 26 “maybes” out of 135 total responses.
Although members of the school board have expressed support for an all-day/every-day program on occasion in the past, the effort to start one was really begun in earnest after the district received a demographic report last fall. It showed that the district’s kindergarten enrollment dropped by roughly 20 this year, while Trinity Christian School’s increased by approximately 15 students.
Trinity School Administrator Nichole Laven has, in the past, taken issue with the claim that parents are choosing Trinity solely for the full-time kindergarten option.
She pointed out that Trinity offers specialized teachers in Spanish, music, and computer. But the district noted last Thursday that a significant number of parents with kindergartners at Trinity, who were polled, said the full-time kindergarten offering was key.
Parents hoping though, that K Everyday will put their youngster well ahead of the pack, should think again.
K Everyday will be run out of the Community Education program and will not be twice the education of a typical kindergarten class. Because the program is not offered to all students, it cannot, educationally speaking, go beyond the current curriculum. Rather, the district is referring to the program as learning “deeper, not more.”
Classes will be taught by licensed teachers and offer a “more comprehensive understanding of concepts taught” in kindergarten currently.
Since the program is under the auspices of Community Education, the funds needed for extra salaries required will be drawn from there, and paid for through tuition. As such, the program and its future are entirely dependent on the interest level of district residents.
Classes will be held at the Primary School and bus transportation will be provided.
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