TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The Twin Falls School District will provide all-day kindergarten for all of its students in the fall.
This comes after the state approved funds to provide support for literacy education. Prior to this, schools in the Twin Falls area would need approval from certain schools to have access to all-day kindergarten.
“I was absolutely thrilled that they were doing this,” said Jaime Williams, a kindergarten teacher at Bickel Public School.
Williams has worked with Bickel Public School for four years and says this opportunity will give kids the help they need while transitioning further in their education.
"The full day gives them consistency of being in one place all day and they get acquainted with the school and it helps with their transition to first grade,” said Williams.
This new full day option will also help parents.
“It doesn’t just affect the students it affects their families and it provides extra help for them. The kids get lunch at school, they get breakfast at school and they have a safe place to be for the whole day without the parents having to figure out what to do with them the other half of the day,” said Jaime
The full day experience will also allow students to cover key educational elements.
“We are excited about the opportunity to have that extended time with them. To work on those social skills, to work on those basic math concepts, to work on basic literacy that really going to build a foundation so that they can learn to read," said Eva Craner, director of Public Relations for the Twin Falls School District.
This change will also provide jobs to the Twin Falls area with open teaching jobs.
“We are also looking to higher somewhere between 9 and 11 more kindergarten teachers in order to implement this type of program with the numbers we think might be showing up next year,” said Craner.
For more information on full day kindergarten and student registration, click here.
