Gloucester Township BOE Approves Full-Day Kindergarten Schedule

Gloucester Township, NJ -- Full-day kindergarten is on its way to Gloucester Township.

The Gloucester Township Board of Education unanimously approved legislation to expand to a full-day kindergarten program, to begin in September, during its meeting Monday night.

The program will be offered in all eight of the district’s elementary schools. The anticipated enrollment for the initial full-day kindergarten class is about 625 students. Currently there are about 500 students in the half-day kindergarten program.

The hours would be 8:40 a.m.-3:05 p.m., the same hours currently used by the district’s elementary schools. The current half-day kindergarten schedule is from 8:40 a.m.-11:25 a.m.

The district’s internal based Latchkey program will be available for kindergarten students.

There will be an informational session on the topic on Wednesday, March 2, 7 p.m. in the Charles W. Lewis School cafeteria.

At that time, the district will address why there is a need for full-day kindergarten, how the school district will accommodate the program, a description of what it will look like and what the next step will be. The school district will also take questions from the public.

Superintendent of Schools John Bilodeau cited the declining populations throughout the district over the last several years as a factor in the expansion. The declining populations have left both classrooms and teachers available for the expansion to 33 kindergarten classrooms,

Bilodeau said there would be a minimal tax impact.

The district will further discuss the research it performed in preparation for the move at the March 2 meeting, Bilodeau said.