Oakland teachers are moving ahead with preparations for full day kindergarten in the borough’s elementary schools by September, after the board of education’s approval of the program earlier this year.
To prepare curriculum for the shift from 2 ½ to six-hour school days, teachers are in this week to schedule and review the kindergarten curriculum as well as prepare for new writing and math initiatives taking place across district, Superintendent Gina Coffaro said.
“The teachers did a magnificent job with curriculum implementation and meeting success during the two and a half hours and now with the full day they will be expanding upon what they have done, providing a greater balance across the curriculum,” she said in an email, adding that the teachers will also be developing new interdisciplinary units.
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“We put a lot of pressure on these kindergarteners and in a half day there’s a lot to do,” said school board president Russell Talamini. “So now if there’s a bump in the road there’s time to help them.”
The full day program has been a long-sought goal of the district, and Talamini said that the board saw the opportunity this year to implement the program without straining the budget.
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“The population of the town has been declining, and we had the classrooms and the room in the budget this year so we were able to do it without having to hire new staff,” he said.
Coffaro explained that one teacher at each school is being transferred from another grade to teach kindergarten, bringing the total number of classes at each school to two.
Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff, with which Oakland shares a regional high school district, have in recent years implemented their own full day programs. But Talamini said that the other K-8 districts did not play a role in the board’s decision.
Teachers will continue the work to move to double classes and class time the kindergarten level for September.
“It’s the first year, there’s a lot of learning going on,” Talamini said. “But we’ll figure it out and we’ll be prepared for September.”