Full-day kindergarten ready to roll out across N.L.

Kindergarten students in Newfoundland and Labrador will mark a historic milestone on Sept. 7, when theybegin attending full-day classes, province wide, for the first time.

"All the work has been done to start full-day kindergarten,"said Newfoundland and Labrador English School District CEO Darrin Pike.

A big chunk of the work was getting the infrastructure in place, Pike said, with about $30 million earmarked by the province to geteverything ready.

Two things had to changesignificantly: buildings and classrooms. In some cases the renovations were major;other spaces needed only minorphysical alterations.

"We have four major extensions in schools. 12 schools have received modular classrooms, that were added at the schools. And there were about 100 smaller projects,"said Pike.

Those small projects included everything froma wall going up toinstalling washrooms, and eventhough they were considered minor, it took two summers to complete all the work.

Not just about the ABCs

An additional $2millionwas pumpedinto resources to get the classrooms up to snuff for full-day learning.

Educators call those resources 'manipulatives'things like blocks,puppet studios, art areas, reading areas, toys, and dress up clothesall designed to support learning.

"One thing about full-day kindergarten versus half-day, it's not a change in what the teachers do. It's really about the teachers being able to allow more time for the students to engage in the material," said Pike.

"Because full-day kindergarten is not just about the ABCs and the 1-2-3s. It's about the social skills you develop, the learning skills you develop, the self-monitoring skills you develop."

'We'll be ready'

Additional kindergarten teachers have been hired,and they're scheduled for professional development this fall, according to Pike. Those who were already in the kindergartensystem received that training this spring.

The newadditionallabour bill for the teachers and student assistants is $13 million, annually.

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"We'll be ready." saidPike, with an added caution.

"With any school opening, at the beginning there will be a few bumps. and unexpected things can occur. Especially when you're fully operational for the full day for the first time."

Pike also admitted there will nodoubtbe someoperational and minor infrastructure issues onSept.7, but overall the teachers and principals are ready.