The following is a press release issued by the Enumclaw School District

With many thanks to our legislators for prioritizing K-12 education and the signing of the budget by Governor Inslee on June 30, the Enumclaw School District has received its preliminary state budget allocation , and with adjustments, is able to direct new money to resume offering a full day Kindergarten program for all students!

Ten years ago, the Enumclaw School District embarked on having full-day kindergarten for all students. Due to state budget reductions five years ago, the school system needed to return to a half-day program and a fee based full-day program. The Enumclaw Schools Foundation championed efforts to offer scholarships to students and families who wanted to attend the program but who could not afford it. The All Children – All Day….Let’s Find a Way auctions raised $325,000 over the past five years to support students in having the full-day kindergarten experience.

Superintendent Mike Nelson states, “First of all, I am very grateful to the many dedicated parents and community members who worked tirelessly for the past five years to maintain one full-day kindergarten classroom in each of our five schools. As a former kindergarten teacher, I am so excited for all of our students to experience our amazing full day program! Our kindergarten staff will create the most incredible classroom learning experience!”

Having all kindergarten students attend school all day will have a compounding effect on their education throughout their entire experience in the Enumclaw School District.

The research on the academic and social benefits for children in a full-day kindergarten is overwhelmingly positive.

Children in full-day kindergarten:

• Exhibit more independent learning, classroom involvement, productivity in working with peers and reflectiveness

• Outperform children in half-day programs on all measure of language arts/literacy and several measures of mathematics

• Experience a greater number of positive social interactions

• Have higher levels of school attendance

• Do not experience higher levels of fatigue than children in half-day programs

The kindergarten teaching staff will be attending a refresher full-day kindergarten institute this August. “We believe this professional development opportunity planned for our kindergarten teachers will be incredible! This opportunity will allow our kindergarten teaching staff to build a district-wide team that focuses on the best instructional practices for our kindergarten students in a full-day program,” states Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Terry Parker.