Oregon's dramatic switch: 99.7 percent of kindergartners in full-day classes
Oregon's conversion from half-day to full-day kindergarten was startlingly fast and complete, with 99.7 percent of the state's 5- and 6-year-olds currently enrolled in full-day classes, the state reported Thursday.
That's a huge change in a state where just 42 percent of kindergartners were in school all day the previous school year. The Legislature allocated an extra $110 million a year to cover the costs.
Read more about full-day kindergarten
Learn how full-day kindergarten differs from the half-day version
Educators say lessons are richer and go deeper when the school day lasts six hours rather than two hours and 45 minutes. There's more time to build classroom routines and self-management skills. Art, music and science get more attention. Students write more. And they get a real chance for hands-on exploration.
Schools could choose to offer either half-day or full-day classes this year, but they get twice as much state funding if they choose the longer option.
In 2011, the Legislature gave school leaders four years of notice that the state would begin paying schools the full per-student rate, instead of half, for every full-day kindergartner beginning in fall 2015. Back then, many school officials protested that they would not be able to find enough classrooms and other resources to handle universal all-day kindergarten.
But in the end, 740 of the 750 Oregon schools that offer kindergarten found a way. All but one of the 10 holdouts are charter schools or tiny rural schools with only one or two kindergartners.
Full-day kindergarten proved popular with parents. Kindergarten enrollments surged by in Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Sherwood and elsewhere as families embraced the extended learning opportunity.
Lake Oswego's kindergarten enrollment went up 15 percent. Beaverton schools drew 215 more kindergartners than in fall 2014.
The largest half-day kindergarten class at any neighborhood school is at Joan Oregon's dramatic switch: 99.7 percent of kindergartners in full-day classes | OregonLive.com: