14 all-day K classes projected this fall

John Howell
Posted 7/2/15

While long-advocated universal all-day kindergarten in Warwick schools is scheduled to become a reality in 2016, more than half of about 580 kindergarteners expected in the system this fall will be …

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14 all-day K classes projected this fall

Posted

While long-advocated universal all-day kindergarten in Warwick schools is scheduled to become a reality in 2016, more than half of about 580 kindergarteners expected in the system this fall will be in all-day sessions according to Lynn Dambruch.

Dambruch, director of elementary education, said Friday the department is planning on 14 all-day Ks starting this fall. She said five of those classes are in what the department terms “lottery” schools with an additional nine in schools where the kindergarten population is projected to drop to a point [25 or fewer students] where the morning and afternoon sessions are combined for an all-day K.

Combining sessions because of declining enrollment enabled the department to initiate all-day K for the first time outside a limited number of schools and the Drum Rock Early Education Center in the recently completed academic year. Facilitating the process, the Warwick Teachers Union agreed to increase the maximum class size from 23 to 25 with teacher consent.

But student populations don’t remain static and two schools that had all-day K this year – Warwick Neck and Scott – won’t have them this fall.

“There was a huge bump [in kindergarten registration] and it’s heart wrenching to take it away,” said Dambruch.

Thus far, 36 have registered for kindergarten at Warwick Neck and 32 at Scott.

Superintendent Richard D’Agostino said that passage of state legislation on all-day K will provide some additional funding in the coming academic year, but it won’t really kick in until the following year.

He said Warwick should be able to introduce universal all-day K in 2016 if “the funding is still in the bill.”

Meanwhile, Dambruch has moved ahead to bring all-day K to more schools. She applied for and won a state $30,000 grant, which will be used on supplies, furniture and technology, to open two more “lottery” classes for a total of five in the system.

Parents wanting to send their child to all-day K can enter a lottery. They must agree if they are selected to provide transportation to the school if it is outside of their district.

Lottery schools have been in the western and middle sectors of the city – Drum Rock, Lippitt and Wickes – and Dambruch was looking to bring the program to other sectors. In the fall, lottery classes will also be held at Norwood and Hoxsie Schools.

Dambruch said early kindergarten registration has been strong, which she believes is a product of connect-ed calls and advertising online and in other media. As of Friday, 530 students had been registered for kindergarten or about 50 fewer than those just completing kindergarten. She thought registration could top out at 550.

Although the educational benefits of all-day K have long been argued, funding has been the drawback to implementing it. Several years ago when legislators began talking of mandating all-day K, the cost of doing it in Warwick was projected to exceed $3 million in salaries and benefits. In addition, rooms would have to be freed or added to schools at more cost.

But declining school enrollments have opened rooms and reduced kindergarten classes to the point where morning and afternoon sessions can be combined. To implement full-day K at this point, Dambruch projected the system would need to hire about seven teachers and seven more aides. She thought the class space could be gained by relocating special education classes in some schools.

Dambruch said the department would receive an additional $200,000 for all-day K as a result of legislation, which she said would increase the following year.

“We see the benefits of all-day K,” Dambruch said.

Asked whether that could be quantified, she said the department wouldn’t have comparative test scores until the coming academic year when the performance of first graders at a given school can be measured to scores from prior years.

In addition to lottery all-day Ks, Hoxsie, Lippitt and Norwood Schools have a second full-day K. There will also be full-day Ks at John Brown Francis, Holliman, Oakland Beach, Robertson and Wyman Schools.

Comments

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  • danfire

    Why not have all schools all day k? it's just for the lucky few.

    Thursday, July 2, 2015 Report this

  • SadieA

    Seriously? Did you read the article? MONEY!!

    Friday, July 3, 2015 Report this

  • danfire

    Yes I did!!! it's always money why some thing is not funded or cut. How many years in a row has the school department had a surplus? (6 or 7) I think the surplus would pay for all dayK for all rather than a lucky few.

    Friday, July 3, 2015 Report this

  • awarwickresident

    I don't understand how it is fair that some kids in the city will have all day K and others won't. Don't we all pay the same taxes so shouldn't we all receive equal services? It is especially frustrating that kids are now paying the price for the inept school committee which was unable to make a decision several years back with school consolidation and went out to spend $250,000 on a fancy consultant only to come to the same "exact" conclusion. If the school committee had acted then, there would have been all day K already. It really does not seem fair. My child is going to regress back to a half day K from an all day Pre-K that she adjusted very well to.

    Tuesday, July 7, 2015 Report this