Rocky Hill Superintendent Excited About Full-Day Kindergarten Pilot Program

This fall both the West Hill School and Stevens Elementary School will have one class of full-day kindergarten, a pilot program with hopes of moving the entire school district to full-day kindergarten the following year.

There were 180 families registered for kindergarten so a lottery was held in late April to determine the two classes of 20 that would make up the full-day kindergarten.

"Overall the reaction was very positive," Rocky Hill Superintendent Mark Zito said. "The parents whose children were picked in the lottery were really pleased but there were some who were disappointed. I think the vast majority of the families involved understood the process because it was fair and transparent."

Zito said there are many reasons why full-day kindergarten is important to the school district.

"The Rocky Hill Public Schools’ Full Day Kindergarten Program will establish a strong foundation for learning in the early years in a safe and caring environment that promotes not only the cognitive and academic development of all children, but also their physical, social and emotional development." Zito said in a presentation citing the merits of having the students attend for a full day. 

The benefits?

• —Contributes to increased school readiness —Leads to higher academic achievement —Improves student attendance —
  
• Supports literacy and language development —
  
• Benefits children socially and emotionally —
  
• Decreases costs by reducing retention and remediation rates
  

Zito said the impact of the increased and more rigorous common core requirements "Establish ELA/Math benchmarks for skills and knowledge that students must master by year end. Increase the need for instructional time. Provide challenging content, application of knowledge through high-order thinking skills. Expect deeper understanding at each grade level, greater depth of knowledge. Will be assessed in 2014-2015 (beginning in grade 3)

"It is imperative that we have more time with the students and we anticipate a successful program. We hope this is the first step towards having full-day kindergarten for the entire school district."