Full-Day Kindergarten Kicks Off

For the first time in recent history, Ridgefield's kindergartners arrived at school on Monday morning, and almost all of them returned home seven hours later with the rest of the school.

The first day of full-day kindergarten was historic for Ridgefield public schools after much controversy leading up to the budget vote in May to decide whether to implement the full-day program or not.

After four and a half weeks of an extended-day schedule where kindergarteners were dismissed after lunch, Monday marked a "happy milestone for everyone," according to school superintendent Deborah Low.

"Everyone was prepared and excited yesterday," Low wrote in an email message.

"We are very pleased and proud to reach the first full day of kindergarten," she continued. "September provided a transition period for students to become familiar and comfortable in the school environment.  Now, in addition to spending longer time in all the subjects, we are able to fully integrate art, music, physical education, and library into the schedule."

Farmingville principal Susan Gately said that she visited the kindergarteners at various points throughout the day, including at lunch, after lunch and at their first official afternoon specials class.

"Everything was wonderful," she said. "The kids were happy, no one looked tired, and everything looked fantastic."

Gately noted that the teachers did an excellent job of preparing the students for the full day. One of the Farmingville Kindergarten teachers, Jennifer Mason,sent out an email update to the parents at 2:30 p.m. to let the parents know that the kids were doing great.

"All are quite happy and I am loving having more time with them!!!" Mason said in her email.

Scotland principal Mark Solomon also noted a great day for his youngest constituents.

"The kids were more than ready for full-day," Solomon said. "No one missed their bus, and everyone was smiling."

Solomon visited the kindergartners throughout the day and noted that he only saw happy faces.

He attributed the day's success to "a lot of planning from the superintendent on down."

One of Scotland's kindergartners, Noah Rose, symbolized the success of the day when he got off the bus excited and happy, according to his mother, Nicole.

Rose said that Noah's teacher had prepared the students by doing a "countdown to full-day" and getting them excited about all the specials they would get to attend.

"I think that's what that month before was for," said Rose. "It was to get them excited and ready."

Ridgebury's kindergartners also had a great day, according to Principal Liz Smith. Smith noted that there are two Ridgebury families who chose the "opt-out" early-pickup time for the beginning of the year, but that they plan on moving to the full-day program soon.

There were no reported issues with the afternoon buses, according to Low, even with the extra riders.

"The adults made a bigger deal than the kids," Solomon said. He agreed that people had the right to worry, but knew the kids would fare well due to excellent planning in advance.

"Everyone was ready," he said.