Schools

Full-Day K Enrollment Falls Short of Expectations

Registration at Tokeneke and Royle draws 45 fewer applications than projected.

Where enrollment at Darien High School has boomed unexpectedly, registration for the district's recently sanctioned full-day kindergarten program has drawn fewer applications than anticipated.

"This is just the first of many updates for full-day kindergarten enrollment," said Chairperson Kimberly Westcott.

Darien school officials introduced full-day kindergarten as a pilot program at the start of the 2009 academic year. Prompted by the educational benefits of a longer school day and the economic incentive of eliminating a midday school bus, DPS officials began to offer kindergarten parents the option of sending their children to school for a full six-and-a-half-hour day or the traditional five-hour extended day.

News of the pilot program caused angst among some parents who felt their children were not ready for the transition, but the dust has since settled. To date, only four DPS students attend kindergarten on the extended day schedule, and in early December, the Board of Education voted to sanction full-day program, giving parents ample time to make alternative arrangements as and where necessary.

Registration for the new program began in early January and ended one month later; and while applications will continue to trickle in through summer, Asisstant Superintedent for Elementary Education Judith Pandolfo says enrollment numbers are lower than the board's initial projections.

"The projections that we had as far as sections and numbers are concerned were pretty consistent—except for two areas," said Pandolfo.

As it stands, 327 students have registered to begin academic careers in the Darien public school system in September; factor in a predicted 17 retentions, and Pandolfo says enrollment for the full-day program falls 45 students short of the 389 anticipated.

At Royle Elementary School projections were off by nine students, enough to nix an entire section from the program. And at Tokeneke Elementary School, where administration anticipated 67 registrations, only 47 have enrolled to date.

"At 67 they'd need a fourth section, but I doubt that's going to happen as enrollment is so low," said Pandolfo.

School officials have yet to analyze those figures, and they say it's premature to put reason to the short fall.

"It's always a very exciting time," said Pandolfo. "And it's still early. We'll keep an eye on it."


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