The Island Trees Board of Education will hold a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 6 to present the district's proposal for an All Day Kindergarten Program, to begin in September 2001. In addition to the presentation which will be given by Superintendent Richard Segerdahl, each of the five current Island Trees Kindergarten teachers, the principals from Stokes and Sparke Elementary Schools, and the district's reading director will be on hand to discuss the proposal and answer any questions that residents may have about this plan.

According to Segerdahl, the reason why the district is currently considering going to an All Day Kindergarten program is because of an incentive being offered by the state, which he feels may not be offered the following year. This state aid initiative comes in the form of a program called LADDER (Learning, Achieving, Developing by Directing Education Resources), which was designed, in March 1997, to, among other things offer full-day kindergarten to all children. Through the LADDER program, Island Trees would receive a one-time lump sum amount of approximately $302,000 to assist in the transition to a full day kindergarten program.

Much of the money which the district hopes to receive through the LADDER Program would go toward preparing the six kindergarten classrooms at Stokes School, with a smaller amount being needed to prepare four classrooms at Sparke. In order to have the appropriate amount of space at the Stokes School, the district must move its business and administrative offices to the Gallow School where they currently have seven open classrooms which they can use as office space. The BOCES Special Education Pre-School program and the Island Trees/SCOPE Preschool program are already housed at Gallow and in preparing that building for those programs over the last 5-6 years the district has also prepared the currently unused spaces so they can easily be converted into office space. The current office space at Stokes will be converted into kindergarten classrooms. At Sparke, the transition only involves converting what were four kindergarten classrooms but had been used as offices back into kindergarten classrooms. According to Segerdahl much of the work on these projects will be done by the district's own staff in order for the project to be cost-efficient.

The push for All-Day Kindergarten is being felt all over New York State because of the state educational requirements. This year, Island Trees is one of five Nassau County districts to consider moving in this direction. The other districts which plan to offer All-Day Kindergarten for September 2001 are Bellmore, North Bellmore, Farmingdale, and Plainedge.

According to Stokes Kindergarten teacher Christine Roberts there are two major advantages to the All-Day Kindergarten program. "I would say that one of the major advantages would be small group instruction because with the time constraints we have now, it's very hard to get to each child individually so a lot of the concepts being taught are being taught in a whole group with the teacher circulating around trying to get to each child," said Roberts. "Within the small groups so many of the standards could be met such as retelling of a story, whether it is through acting out or just having the child verbally go through the elements of the story with you." She went on to note that in math the students could orally explain what they are doing rather than just showing the teacher the manipulatives. "Another major advantage would be the socialization skills because right now with the time constraints it's very hard for the kids to play and explore the classroom and I think with the full day we'd be able to have more time to get to know each other and hear about their experiences," added Roberts. She also noted that this opportunity to learn through play would help the children learn because it would be more valuable for them if they are actively involved and enjoying the activities they are participating in.

Segerdahl stated that with the new requirements from the state, 2 1/2 hours a day is just not enough time for kindergarten students. In order to meet these new requirements under the all day kindergarten program Segerdahl plans on the kindergarten teachers working on a strong full-day kindergarten curriculum over the summer.

The teachers play a very important role in this proposed transition to the full day kindergarten, according to Segerdahl, which is why all the kindergarten teachers will be present at the community meeting on Wednesday. "I felt it was very important for parents and residents to hear from the teachers because they're with the children every day and there's just a lot of things they can't do and can't get to," said the superintendent. "They'll present a concept and in 2 1/2 hours you can't do too much." He went on to note that there are some days when the kindergarten classes can't get to individualized reading or math. "We are doing much more now in kindergarten than we used to do. There used to be a lot more socializing," said Segerdahl. He also commented on the fact that many Island Trees students attend a full day preschool program and then come into the district for a half day kindergarten which doesn't make too much sense. Many of the students also attend extended kindergarten in the morning, a SCOPE program that parents pay for, and then spend the afternoon at the regular district kindergarten program so many of the students are already used to a full day of school.

In addition to the one-time transition costs, which the LADDER Aid will go a long way toward funding, the district has also considered the budget implications that going to a full day kindergarten program will have. In order to provide this program, according to Segerdahl, the major budget implication, approximately $250,000, will be for the five additional teachers that are needed. They will also most likely need an additional lunchroom monitor which is a minimal cost. The other large cost, an additional bus, costing approximately $47,000, is 40 percent aidable from the state so the district will get that money back from the state the following year. These figures, if the board approves the All-Day Kindergarten plan, will be included in the budget that will go out to residents for a vote in May.

All community members will have an opportunity to comment on this plan and ask any questions they may have at the Dec. 6 meeting which will be held in the Stokes cafeteria at 8 p.m.