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7 · Friday, November 20, 2009 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Full-day kindergarten coming to some Halton schools next year By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Full-day junior and senior kindergarten is coming to select schools in Halton for the 2010-2011 school year. The Government of Ontario is phasing in full-day learning for kindergarten students over a five-year term, starting next fall. The Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board will be among the first school boards in the province to offer the new initiative. The two school boards and Halton Region have been working together to determine which schools will offer the program first. The provincial government has asked that there be 36 classes, which totals 936 students, in Halton's public system and 17 classes, which amounts to 442 students, in the local Catholic system. The boards have until Nov. 30 to submit their list of proposed schools for the Ministry of Education's approval. This list will not be made public until the schools have been approved. The names of the chosen schools are not expected to be released publicly until early in the new year. The Province has stipulated that full- day junior and senior kindergarten for four and five year olds will run during regular school hours. Parents can choose to enroll their child in extended care hours, which will run from 7:30 a.m. to the start of school and after school to 6 p.m., at no additional cost. Each class will be capped at 26 students, with one kindergarten teacher and one early childhood educator. Schools offering the extended hours will have one kindergarten teacher and two early childhood educators. HDSB staff said they were surprised that their school board was included in the first year of rollout, considering it is a high-growth board and many elementary schools are already bursting at the seams. The Province has provided school boards with a list of criteria for selecting schools for the first year of the program. Among the criteria are availability of space, appropriate number of purposebuilt kindergarten rooms and community need for extended child care. The Province is not giving school boards capital money for the first year of the rollout, meaning there is no funding available to build or renovate additional kindergarten classrooms. KENNEDY FORD PURCHASE FINANCING UP TO OAKVILLE'S ORIGINAL DEALER 0 % $ ** 48 MONTHS DOWN PAYMENT 0 $ DUE AT DELIVERY 0 $ PAYMENTS 1ST MONTH 0 QEW @ DORVAL 280 SOUTH SERVICE RD. QEW OAKVILLE 905.845.1646 www.kennedyford.ca WYECROFT Destination, fees, taxes extra based on 72 months @1.99 on 2010 Focus. No charge Sync on in stock Focus only. See dealer for details. All interest rates based on current FMCC posted interest rates. 1st payment only qualifies on FMCC contracts. *The Ford Get In and Drive Year End Event ("Year End Event") is in effect from November 3, 2009 to January 4, 2010 at Kennedy Ford. See dealer for details. DORVAL VAL