Canfield school officials cheer value of all-day kindergarten

Staff report

CANFIELD

After the first full year of all-day kindergarten, Canfield school officials are elated with the inaugural results.

Additionally, first grade teachers are looking forward to the first full class of kindergarten students to hit their classrooms.

“I think they got to experience an all-day program which gives them more time to be at school and experience the routine,” said Jan Johnson, a first grade teacher at C.H. Campbell Elementary.

The district has two elementary buildings, C.H. Campbell and Hilltop Elementary, and district officials pointed to preschool programming shifting within the buildings and all-day kindergarten as two boosts for children. Last summer, the preschool offerings moved from the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center on Palmyra Road to within the two elementaries.

“To have them here at a younger age, they’re going to be familiar with the building and recognize people,” said Joe Maroni, Hilltop principal.

He also said the all-day aspect allowed teachers to go “deeper into curriculum and the teachers spent more time on reading.”

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