Virginia Sabella to the Board of Education on the need for all-day kindergarten at O.A. Thorp
Hello, my name is Virginia Sabella and I am here to represent the many families of OA Thorp Scholastic Academy.
As a parent and a former educator I am very discouraged at what lies ahead for our incoming kindergarten class. With the current budget we have been given a half day program which means 2 ½ hours a day of education.
I have two children who have gone through Thorp’s full day kindergarten. With the already short day our teachers have been able to accomplish amazing things. My children finished Kindergarten beginning to read, write, spell, & do basic math. Not to mention science & social studies.
They had art, music, library, PE, and technology. They were able to foster friendships, resolve conflicts, participate in assemblies, & learn from older students through our writing partners program. I believe this well rounded base has lead to making our school one of the best in the city.
As my third child gets ready to attend kindergarten this fall I cannot see how even a fraction of this will be accomplished. Many children will be taking a huge step backward, since they may have been in full day preschool or even half day which is longer than 2 ½ hours. For those children who have not been in preschool they need even more time to adjust. Much of the students time will be spent on non educational things leaving the children to face years of making up for lost time. This gives our school a very unstable base in which to build on. How can we offer a quality education in 2 ½ hours? Is there any way to have those 1.5 kindergarten positions back?
Thank You
