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Full Day
Kindergarten is coming to Needham next school year!
After years of
planning, the Needham Public Schools will offer a publicly funded, student-centered,
and developmentally appropriate Full Day Kindergarten program for eligible
students. Once implemented next
September, Needham will become the last community in Massachusetts to offer to
at least some of its Kindergarteners a Full Day Kindergarten program!
Under the
leadership of the School Committee and with the unanimous support of the Select
Board and Finance Committee, the School Committee has included almost $2
million in its FY20 (School year 2019-20) to provide for the additional
teachers, teacher assistants, and materials required to open 22 Kindergarten
classrooms in each of the schools next fall, including the new Sunita L.
Williams Elementary School which will replace Hillside. With a final
appropriation of funds anticipated at the May Town Meeting, we will be ready
for next fall! Principals, school staff,
central office administrators, and others are busy developing the new program, hiring
teachers, planning for renovated spaces, and meeting with incoming families to
orient them to Full Day Kindergarten.
The curriculum
and program are modeled after the Boston Public School’s successful Focus on K2 Program and mirrors in many ways the existing half day Kindergarten program and the Kindergarten
After School Enrichment (KASE) Program that has served Needham children and
families for over 27 years.
The community has been fortunate to have the talented and dedicated KASE staff work
with our children under the enduring, caring, and loving leadership
of KASE Director Connie Leonard who will retire at the end of this year after
25 years. While KASE will go away at the end of this school year, we
will be fortunate to be able to hire some KASE staff to teach and work with our
Kindergartners next year.
The Kindergarten program will be guided by six core
principles that will guide teachers in the implementation of a classroom experience
that allows children to experience and explore various learning centers
throughout the day even while they focus on literacy, math, and social and
emotional learning.
To learn more about the implementation of Needham’s Full
Day Kindergarten Program, you may view a recent Needham Schools Spotlight cable
show here: Needham Schools Spotlight: Full Day Kindergarten Incoming Kindergarten parents should also plan on
attending orientation and information sessions at each of the elementary
schools:
Broadmeadow, Wednesday, April 10th
Eliot, Thursday, May 2nd
Hillside (Sunita L. Williams), Wednesday, May 15th
Mitchell, Wednesday, May 8th
Newman, Wednesday, May 8th
For details or to receive updated times and information,
please check out each school website. Full
Day Kindergarten, here we (finally) come!
