Full Day Kindergarten a Reality in Upper Moreland

On Tuesday, January 29, 2008, the Upper Moreland Board of School Directors voted to implement full day kindergarten programming effective with the 2008-2009 school year.  Beginning next fall, parents in Upper Moreland will have the opportunity to send their kindergarten children to a full-day program, complete with transportation.  Parents may also choose to register their children in a half-day program, which will be run if sufficient numbers enroll.  Parents who elect the half-day program will be provided with one-way transportation only; parents will need to provide transportation home from school if in a morning kindergarten program, and to school if in an afternoon kindergarten program.  At parent cost, full-day kindergarten students will now also be eligible for enrollment in our District before- and after-care programs.

Upper Moreland's new full-day kindergarten program will enable our teachers to provide expanded instruction in beginning learning skills, notably in language arts, reading and math.   We are hopeful that the full-day program will also bring to the district those students who have typically been involved in other programs, transferring to Upper Moreland in first or second grade.  By providing a full-day kindergarten option to our community, parents will no longer need to choose between a quality public school program and other programs which may simply have satisfied child care needs. A body of research has shown the benefits of full-day kindergarten on a student's later learning; it is indeed a positive step for our students to be able to take advantage of this improvement in programming.

I wish to thank the Board of School Directors and the community for their strong support on this issue.  Full day kindergarten will increase the desirability of the Upper Moreland School District to potential home buyers and will enhance the quality of our school district.  Most importantly, full-day kindergarten will enrich the lives of our students from day one.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Milrod, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools