Editor's note: The following is a press release from Valley View School District 365U.
All-day kindergarten classes will make their debut at all 12 Valley View School District 365U elementary schools Wednesday.
More than 1,000 children will enter newly-created classrooms at 9:05 a.m. and stay until 3:15 p.m. Previously, children attended either a morning session or an afternoon session.
To make room for the new program, VVSD put additions on nine schools and renovated facilities in three others. Kindergarten students will be housed in new additions at Independence, Salk and Wood View schools and in remodeled facilities at Oak View, Ward, King, Skoff, McGee, Tibbott, Hermansen, Pioneer and Hill.
Older students will move from existing classrooms to new additions at Oak View, Ward, King, Skoff, McGee, Tibbott, Hermansen, Pioneer and Hill.
Valley View School District 365U formally dedicated what School Board President Steve Quigley termed “the educational foundation for our youngest students” during a symbolic ribbon cutting at Hermansen Elementary School Monday that represented new additions district-wide to make room for All Day Kindergarten.
"I am pleased we have created the foundation upon which our youngest students can build their educational futures,” Quigley said. “These classrooms and the All Day Kindergarten program are all part of Valley View’s continued commitment to improving the overall quality of education for all of our students."
Romeoville Mayor John Noak, who attended the ceremonies, called VVSD’s new All Day Kindergarten “a huge asset for our communities, for our kids and for our parents.”
"We are committed to providing the best education we can for our kids,” said School Board Vice President Richard Gougis III, who also attended the ribbon cutting. “The new expanded kindergarten program throughout VVSD will help accomplish our academic goals and keep the district moving forward."