Schools
Full-Day K for All (and Half-Day Too) in District 129
A Q&A with Mike Chapin, Community Relations Director for School District 129, about recent changes in kindergarten offerings.
As a mom to an incoming kindergartner, I am paying extra attention to the half-day and full-day discussion occurring in the West Aurora School District this spring.
In March, the district held an information meeting detailing how new full-day kindergarten classes would be offered, but only to those children who could benefit the most from the extra curriculum and activities, including art, music and physical education. The plan was to house one full-day class in each school, including Nicholson Elementary School in Montgomery.
According to a district handout given to parents in March, full-day kindergarten "will allow for more time in order to remediate, revisit, and extend curriculum content for students as needed." Half-day kindergarten students, the handout said, "will be afforded the opportunity to extend, and when appropriate, accelerate curriculum."
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That was the news in March. In early April, however, I heard different talk on the playground. Moms were saying that full-day might be an option for all, or so they heard through the grapevine. I went to Mike Chapin, community relations director at School District 129, for the official scoop.
Montgomery Patch: What is the latest with full-day kindergarten? The word on the street is that everyone will get it.
Find out what's happening in Montgomerywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Mike Chapin: That is correct. As of now, we believe we can offer it to all parents who want it for their children.
Patch: Will both half-day and full-day be offered to all children?
Chapin: Yes, half-day remains an option for parents. It is required... We started the "Full-Day K" project by getting enough space for some, but not all students. However, our team has worked diligently since to find space (the primary hurdle) so we can now offer it to ALL students this fall. We are excited about this, obviously.
Patch: Just curious why I haven't read anything about it. Of course, moms have been talking about it all week.
Chapin: We had a big meeting for incoming kindergarten parents at West High (on March 9), which was well attended... I have updated since we have managed to find space for all students in full-day. Thanks for your interest.
Thanks Mike! Now we know in time for kindergarten registration on Thursday, April 7 from 3 to 6 p.m.
