District 300 Brings All-Day Kindergarten Option to LITH Schools

Community Unit School District 300 is expanding its Kindergarten Academy to seven additional elementary schools after testing an all-day kindergarten option at Hampshire Elementary School.

Lake in the Hills Elementary and Lincoln Prairie Elementary schools, both in Lake in the Hills, are included among a handful of schools in the district scheduled to have full-day Kindergarten Academy starting this fall.

The extra half day of school will come at a price. District 300’s website currently lists the monthly tuition for Kindergarten Academy at $225.

“About three years ago, the district established a goal of expanding self-funding kindergarten programming as much as possible, depending upon available space and other factors,” District 300 Spokeswoman Allison Strupeck said. “This goal is revisited each year to determine the potential for expanding the self-funding programs. We are pleased to be able to expand our Kindergarten Academy.”

Students participating in the academy will attend their normal half-day session of kindergarten, have lunch and spend the other half of the day in the academy program.

Academy students will have additional language arts and math enrichment learning time. They also will attend physical education, music and media learning (computer and library) classes.

Last year, District 300 discontinued gym and music classes for kindergarteners.

Trent Halpin, principal for Lincoln Prairie Elementary School, said of the 55 kindergarten students registered for the next school year, 38 are already enrolled in the academy class. Halpin anticipates having a total of about 75 kindergarten students at the school by the start of next year. Currently, Lincoln Prairie has 81 kindergarteners.

Lincoln Prairie parents have expressed an interest in the all-day kindergarten option and compare the cost of the academy to daycare expenses, Halpin said.

"The parents don't seem to mind about the cost, plus they're happy their kids will be in school learning," Halpin said. "Informally, I've heard from other principals that the students in the all-day program seem to be better prepared once they enter first grade. They've had a lot more exposoure to reading through the language arts enrichment program."

Hampshire Elementary School has been testing the Kindergarten Academy for two years. This year, Gilberts Elementary School in Gilberts and Gary D. Wright Elementary School in Hampshire both presented parents with the all-day choice.

Strupeck said District 300 children living outside a Kindergarten Academy host school attendance area are eligible for the program, but their families must provide their own transportation to and from school.

Consolidated District 158 All-Day Kindergarten

Over the years, the education system has seen a slow transformation from half- to full-day kindergarten programs.

In the immediate area, Crystal Lake School District 47 does not offer a full-day kindergarten schedule, but Consolidated School District 158 has presented a choice of half- or full-day kindergarten since the 2006-2007 school year.

“I would say our full-day program is much more popular than our half-day kindergarten program,” said Lorie Woods, District 158 Community Relations Coordinator.  “Probably about 90 percent of our kindergarten students attend the full-day classes, and the other 10 percent are half-day.”

District 158 does not charge a monthly fee for the additional learning time. Parents pay a registration fee at the beginning of the school year of $117 per student for half-day, and $167 per student for all day kindergarten, Woods said.

According to District 158’s kindergarten information on its website: “School District 158 firmly believes that a full-day experience is the most beneficial for students. The full-day program gives students the ‘gift of time.’”

The district’s program overview states that kindergarten students focus on developmentally appropriate material – they and their teachers simply have more time to complete their tasks. The students are not pushed into learning advanced curriculum taught in the first and second grades.  

The District 300 School Offering Kindergarten Academy Include:

• Algonquin Lakes Elementary, Algonquin
• Dundee Highlands Elementary, West Dundee
• Eastview Elementary, Algonquin
• Gary D. Wright Elementary, Hampshire
• Gilberts Elementary School, Gilberts
• Hampshire Elementary School, Hampshire
• Lake in the Hills Elementary School, Lake in the Hills
• Lincoln Prairie Elementary School, Lake in the Hills
• Neubert Elementary School, Algonquin
• Westfield Community School, Algonquin

Illinois Kindergarten Statistics

The Illinois State Board of Education lists the following 2009-2010 data regarding full- and half-day kindergarten in the state of Illinois:

Source: Illinois State Board of Education Spokesperson Mary Fergus