CRANFORD, NJ — The Cranford Board of Education will be piloting two tuition-based full day kindergartens for the 2016-2017 school year. The program will support children’s cognitive, social/emotional and physical growth in a full day learning environment throughout the year. Students will engage daily in uninterrupted planned activities that promote higher level thinking skills while stimulating curiosity, experimentation, brainstorming and problem solving.
The Common Core State Standards will be taught through developmentally appropriate practices that allow students to see connections within and across disciplines.
The full-day learning environment allows students to interact with all content areas while further supporting the social/emotional growth of each individual. The kindergarten students will be a part of a learning community that provides opportunities to practice and strengthen social skills through play, sharing, turn-taking and working collaboratively.
Throughout the day, students will continue to develop physically through movement in and outside of the classroom, with special attention given to developing fine motor skills in order to support a student’s ability to write, draw and cut precisely. For example, students may be seen constructing with blocks, stringing beads, using scissors or working with clay.
The full-day kindergarten program will allow students the time needed to delve deeper into the curriculum, allowing for a strong foundation to be created as they begin their academic career.
The estimated instructional minutes per week for the full-day schedule will be: English language arts, 630; mathematics, 300; science, 150; social studies, 150; physical education, 150; music, 30; art, 30; and library, 30.
English language arts will include: Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, Shared Reading, Read Aloud, Word Work and more.
Mathematics will include the EnVision Math Program, Math Literacy instruction and more.
Science and Social Studies will include project based learning and will be integrated into other content areas throughout the day.
Physical education includes Physical Education, Recess, Health and Safety.
Several spaces remain available for this unique new program. Children who will be 5 years old by Oct. 1, 2016, and are Cranford residents are eligible for the full-day kindergartens. The tuition charge is $660 per month.
Applications for the full-day program are available in the main office at all of the elementary schools within the district, as well as on the district website: www.cranfordschools.org. For additional information, call the Office of the Superintendent at 908-709-6202.
If you are interested in signing up, bring your application to the Board of Education Office at 132 Thomas St. immediately. These spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. After the spaces are filled, applications will be kept on a wait list.