LMSD preparing for its, schools, staff for new full-day kindergarten this fall
LOWER MERION — With Lower Merion starting full-day kindergarten this fall, school officials say they are getting ready for the changes.
During a school board meeting this week, Lower Merion Superintendent Steven M. Yanni said the district would be ready for the change to full-day kindergarten beginning this fall.
“I am extremely confident that this program is going to be successful, and it’s taken the hard work of many, many people,” Yanni said.
According to Yanni, district officials met with each elementary school principal to provide preliminary information on the number of sections needed in each school.
According to Yanni, when the district considers the number of kindergarten sections, it looks at the number of registered children, the number of pending registrations, and the average number of children who register over the summer.
“So we feel really confident that we have our sections locked,” Yanni said.
Now that the number of sections is known, Yanni said they can concentrate on the programs.
“What universal full-day kindergarten is going to do is allow our teachers to do is to actually go deeper with content,” Yanni said. “Right now, the half-day program is really, really fast-paced because you have a lot to pack into just a half day.”
The district is also working on professional development to help the kids with programs called purposeful play.
Yanni said purposeful play occurs when time is dedicated to the schedule for kids to practice math, science, and literacy skills in a fun, engaging and learning environment.
In half-day kindergarten, the district limited much of its focus to literacy. In full-day kindergarten, they can spread things out better and devote time to math, science, and other areas, he said.
“I feel very confident that the way we’re structuring our days next year is not only going to be meaningful for kids but also very appropriate,” Yanni said.
According to Yanni, the district operations department will remove and add walls in various places to accommodate full-day kindergarten this summer.
“Our students in universal full-day kindergarten will have a full complement of specials,” Yanni said. “So they’ll have PE, music, art, and library.”
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