Administrators and teachers at Windham Primary School are beginning to plan to convert the school’s kindergarten classes into an all-day program.

Parents, teachers and administrators used to the half-day schedule are excited to see how the extra time spent learning will impact the young students as they move through the system. It will cost the district $128,681 next year, though savings could be realized through decreased transportation costs and rising meal revenue, said Principal Kyle Rhoads. Four new kindergarten teachers have been hired, all with experience teaching all-day programs.

In order to make room for the program, kindergarten at Windham Primary will have to devote four more classrooms to kindergarten, said Rhoads. The school has the extra rooms, and space, to accommodate a full day of school for the 200 or so students in kindergarten.

Two kindergarten classes at Windham Primary, for kids whose pre-school testing show they are in need of extra attention, are already on a full-day schedule, and teachers and parents involved in that program call it a success that shows the benefits of all-day kindergarten.

Funds for the all-day program were included in next year’s budget by administrators and approved by the new consolidated Windham-Raymond School Board. The plan was supported by parents, many of whom spoke in favor of all-day kindergarten at a series of public hearings earlier this year.

The extended day, Rhoads said, will allow teachers to delve more deeply into core subjects like language and math, to better evaluate the students and adjust the school’s resources accordingly, and to provide students with lessons without having to rush. Research shows that extra classroom time in kindergarten pays off in the future as students achieve higher test scores and develop better socialization skills, the principal said.

“Really, we’ll be able to enrich what we do,” said Rhoads, who is just finishing his first year at the school. The math and language arts programs used by the school are meant for a full-day kindergarten, he said. “The fact that we were trying to do them in a half-day program, it’s commendable for the teachers, but that wasn’t the intent.”

Heidi Hutchin of Windham said her son, Cole, began last year in the full-day kindergarten program after preschool testing showed he was lagging behind.

But within a few weeks of entering the program, Cole was making great strides, Hutchins said. By the end of the year, he was moved into another special program, this one for students who need more challenging work. Other parents can expect similar results as their kids go through full-day kindergarten, she said.

“He really blossomed. He’s reading at a really high level,” said Hutchins. “If he hadn’t been in full-day, he wouldn’t have gotten to where he did.”

Pam Whynot, who has taught one of the all-day kindergarten classes at Windham Primary for the last five years, said the schedule gives her time to introduce a skill and then build on it, rather than quickly go over it as she had to when she taught a half-day class.

“I was always rushing kids,” she said. “It’s time to go to music, it’s time to go home. I always felt like we didn’t have time.”

The difference in the two programs is quite apparent, Whynot said. While doing a transportation unit with her full-day class, she brought the students to Portland. They went to the airport, the transportation and the ferry port, she said.

“Because I had all day, I could give them that experience. The half-day couldn’t do that,” Whynot said.

Parents sometimes worry about whether their children are ready to handle a full day of school in kindergarten, Whynot said. But many of the kids are already used to a full day away from home, whether it be at preschool or daycare. Kids are also remarkably adaptive, Whynot said, and they are given time to rest and play during the day.

Hutchins had initial reservations about Cole attending school all day. He was “not as focused, a very busy child,” she said, and Hutchins was not sure her son could keep it together until the final bell. Her worries soon faded.

“They keep them very busy, and they have structure,” said Hutchins. “So it wasn’t a concern a couple of weeks into it.”