Written by: Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic

Concerns about workload and energy have proven to be unfounded in Newberg classrooms

According to Dundee Elementary School principal Reed Langdon, if there was one main concern among parents and education regarding transitioning from half- to full-day kindergarten this fall, it was whether the kids would be up for a much longer day.

If the first two weeks of classes at Dundee are any indication, that concern has been put to rest.

In fact, kindergarten teacher Traci Fitzpatrick, who taught half-day kindergarten last year at Dundee and now handles one of the school’s two full-day sections, has found quite the opposite.

“When I worked with my half-day kindergarteners, whether it was morning or afternoon, they seemed more tired at the end of the day than these guys,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s probably because we’re able to take things a bit slower now. I was expecting them to be really tired or just bouncing off the walls by the end of the day just because it is such a longer day, but I really haven’t seen that much.”

The advantages of the new format, most of which stem from the fact that teachers have more time with students, appear to be paying big dividends.

For example, Fitzpatrick has seen much faster development when it comes to teaching the basics about how to act in a classroom.

“We’ve had more time to work on it and to practice it,” Fitzpatrick said. “What would normally be at the very end of September I’m seeing those skills starting to develop now.”

Working at a slower pace, with more time for breaks and play-based activities, has allowed for different types of instruction that help ensure that students with different learning styles can all progress and therefore allow the class to move on to new lessons more quickly.

“The thing about going to full day is we can do a lot more hands-on learning, learning with more manipulatives for math instead of just paper and pencil,” Fitzpatrick said. “We can actually use cubes and dinosaurs and different ocean animals in different ways for adding and subtracting that we just didn’t have the time for before.”

In addition to being able to add science and social studies into lesson plans, more time in the day has also meant increased time for students outside of their regular classrooms for music and physical education.

Students at Dundee now get music and P.E. twice a week and their weekly session working in the library is twice as long.

“Everything she teaches is Common Core related, so now they are picking that up even more,” Fitzpatrick said of music teacher Kathy Ganske. “I’m so excited for them to be able to go to music twice a week and learn in a more kinesthetic way.”

Langdon said that integrating kindergartners into the school’s lunch routine was difficult at first, but that otherwise the school has made a smooth transition.

“It’s been managed really well,” Langdon said. “When I go out to parent pick-up and visit with folks, they’re telling me their kids love school and that’s just what we want to hear.”