The West Windsor-Plainsboro School District made the move to full-day kindergarten last year, leaving New Jersey with about a dozen districts out of nearly 600 that don’t already offer full-day kindergarten.
“As a district, we have much to be proud of. But the move to full-day kindergarten is one of the brightest spots and one of the brightest accomplishments in recent years,” said David Aderhold, superintendent of the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, on Tuesday.
In his State of the State address last week, Gov. Phil Murphy pushed for full-day kindergarten for all districts in the state.
On Tuesday, pointing to West Windsor-Plainsboro’s success, Murphy said, “In just one year, all the professionals have already noticed improved literacy rates among the districts’ youngest students and they’ve observed a significant reduction in the achievement gap as measured as to how those students perform when they get to first grade after having been in full-day kindergarten.”
“Supporting our working family structures and understanding that investment in early education is critical to academic success,” said Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz. “The numbers are clear: For every dollar that you put into an early childhood setting, the investment back … is anywhere from $9 to $13.”
A bill drafted by Ruiz addresses the proposed expansion.
Ruiz is also calling for a new Department of Early Childhood in New Jersey, because, she said, “if we put all these pieces under one umbrella, we have greater interconnected responsibility from all the departments that oversee early childhood.”
