Due to the overwhelming popularity of the all-day kindergarten pilot project in 2010, the Richmond School District expanded the program to include all elementary schools.
"Last year, the full-day kindergarten was implemented throughout the district, including Montessori and French Immersion classes," said Nancy Brennan, assistant superintendent of the Richmond School District. "We feel that all-day kindergarten gives our students a great foundation for their academic life."
The cost of funding the new kindergarten program did not come at the expense of other school programs, added Brennan. "When we went to all-day kindergarten, the federal government provided full funding," she said.
However, the school district was charged with having to equip and renovate some of the classrooms to accommodate the new program. It cost the Richmond School District half a million dollars over two years.
"We had to add kitchen centres in some of the older schools and the funds also covered the cost to fully equip each kindergarten classroom," Brennan said. "However, no school programs were cut because of this."
She admitted the pilot project wasn't without its challenges. Initially, when the program began in half of the district's elementary schools, some parents were concerned about what would happen with extra curricular activities. However, Brennan added many working parents felt "it was a godsend."
"Parents were asking us, what about my child's swimming classes or what about if my child gets tired," she added. "We found at the end of the pilot project that the kids did great and parents found alternative times for their children's extra-curricular activities."
Brennan said the district worked really hard to ensure the teachers were ready and prepared when the new program began throughout the school district in 2011.
"We had time to build in the program. We were very strategic, we alternated lunch and play hour so that the kindergarten students weren't overwhelmed with the older students."
She said the positive effects far outweigh the negatives. "Teachers have more time to spend with the kids - two and a half hours wasn't long enough. The teachers can get into much more in-depth teaching than they could with halfday kindergarten."
Fro more information about all-day kindergarten, visit www.sd38.bc.ca/schools/kindergarten.
mhopkins@richmond-news.com
