Idaho Falls District 91 looking at offering all-day kindergarten at 3 schools
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — Idaho Falls School District 91 is again exploring all-day kindergarten programs at a few schools. If they have enough students enroll, the programs could begin as early as the fall.
Last year, District 91 attempted to start an all-day kindergarten program at several schools, but it failed to find enough participants to make it work. This year, the district was again approached by parents interested in starting a full-day program at Sunnyside Elementary School.
District spokeswoman Margaret Wimborne says leaders have been working with the parents to create a pilot program.
“To operate the program we needed commitments from 25 students, which we got during Sunnyside’s kindergarten roundup this week,” Wimborne said in an email to EastIdahoNews.com. “We discussed full-day kindergarten with the parents who attended Monday’s kindergarten roundup, and then we called parents who had registered for kindergarten, but did not attend that meeting.”
The Sunnyside program will cost each student $275 a month and is still being finalized, according to Wimborne.
“The goal of this program would be an ‘extension’ of our existing kindergarten program giving teachers more time to explore and enrich the curriculum,” Wimborne says.
Administrators are also looking at implementing all-day kindergarten at Temple View and AH Bush Elementary Schools. Wimborne says those programs would be different than Sunnyside and act more like an “intervention” model aimed at increasing reading skills among students.
Plans have not been finalized on these options but additional details are expected to be released in the coming months.