Preparations Underway for Full-Day Kindergarten in East Windsor

Before she even came on board in July, Superintendent of Schools Theresa Kane asked the East Windsor Board of Education to approve full-day kindergarten.

Now the plan is becoming reality as teachers get ready and classrooms are reorganized at Broad Brook School.

“If students have a jumpstart in kindergarten, they succeed better in first and second grade,” East Windsor Board of Education Chairman John Pica-Sneeden said. “I know the superintendent has been working with the curriculum director and other staff to get the details aligned.”

The board approved full-day kindergarten in late June.

Broad Brook School Principal Laura Foxx said the entire kindergarten staff is looking forward to the change. Foxx recently took the helm at Broad Brook School after being assistant principal for six years. There is an ongoing search for a new assistant principal with interviews planned for the first week of August.

“Even in the last three to four years the expectations and requirements from the state have really changed,” Foxx said. “Teachers have been trying to fit a full-day curriculum in a half-day program.”

Expectations used to be for kindergarten students to be beginning readers by the end of the year and now students are expected to be able to read short books, along with other requirements, Foxx said.

Kane said parents of incoming kindergarten students have been notified by letter about the change. There will be an orientation Aug. 23 at 6:30 p.m. for parents to meet teachers and learn more about the program.

“We are extremely excited about this,” Kane said. “Given the curriculum standards that need to be met at the kindergarten level, teachers have expressed that they need more time with the students. We are thrilled to be offering this.”

There will be five full-day kindergarten classes. Kane said they expect about 100 students, so the goal is 20 students per class. Each classroom will have a teacher and a full-time paraprofessional. Foxx said two additional kindergarten teachers will come from within the school. Colleen Bava, a former kindergarten teacher will be moving from teaching third grade to being part of the kindergarten team, and Deborah Bechard, who was part of a kindergarten-first grade loop program, will return to teaching kindergarten. The school will be hiring a new third grade and first grade teacher.

Two classrooms also will be set up, using former office and professional space. Kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students will be in the same area of Broad Brook School, and the first grade classes will be moved to the modular classrooms.

Kane said the pre-kindergarten program will continue to be half-day. At this time there are 60 students in the program. She said there is a waiting list, and the district is still looking into ways to offer early intervention to those families as well.

Broad Brook School also will be offering a breakfast program for all students. Kane said the program is still being developed at this time, and parents will be informed about how to access the program.

“Students were expressing to teachers that they were hungry, and given the level of need in some of the families in town we decided to provide a breakfast program. If children’s nutritional needs haven’t been met they are not ready to learn,” Kane said.