Full-day kindergarten coming to more District 59 schools

Full-day kindergarten will be offered next school year to students at four additional schools in Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59, officials said Wednesday.

The full-day program currently is offered at John Jay Elementary School, the dual language program at Salt Creek Elementary School, and at the Ridge Family Center for Learning, the district's school of choice in which families apply for admission through a lottery.

Beginning this fall, all students at Salt Creek will be eligible for full-day kindergarten, as well as students at Robert Frost, Rupley and Admiral Byrd. Students at Juliette Low Elementary who are determined to be in need of additional instructional support also will be eligible for an extended day kindergarten session.

Those schools, deemed Title I schools by the federal government because of a large population of students from low-income homes, received additional funding this year with a No Child Left Behind waiver. The extra funds will be used to pay for full-day kindergarten programs, according to Betsy Boswell, the district's spokeswoman.

The district is offering full-day kindergarten to the selected schools on a trial basis, with the possibility of expanding the program districtwide in the future. But that depends on funding and availability of space, Boswell said.

There aren't enough classrooms to be able to offer full-day kindergarten everywhere, she said, but that could change depending on future enrollment.

Parents have been signing their children up for kindergarten since February, and more signups are expected this summer, Boswell said.

Besides schools that already offer full-day programs, kindergarten is offered at District 59 elementary schools in the mornings and afternoons for 2 hours, 45 minutes. Next school year, the kindergarten day will be as long as the elementary school day: 6 hours, 50 minutes.

District 59 includes portions of Elk Grove Village, Arlington Heights, Des Plaines and Mount Prospect.