All-Day Kindergarten A Reality In D202 As Wallin Oaks Opens

Plainfield IL

04 August, 2021

3:00 PM

Description

PLAINFIELD, IL — A community goal at least 10 years in the making, Plainfield School District 202's 18th elementary school, Wallin Oaks, is officially open, allowing for full-day kindergarten across the district starting in August. Incoming students at new Wallin Oaks Elementary School, along with Principal Stacey DiBitetto and other administrators, helped cut the ribbon Tuesday night. The new elementary school will open for its inaugural school year Aug. 18. Until now, District 202 has only provided half-day kindergarten. In Illinois, students aren't required to attend kindergarten at all. But if a school district offers full-day kindergarten, as District 202 now does, it's also required to provide a half-day program, which will also be available at Wallin Oaks. Full-day kindergarten will include reading, writing, math, science, social studies, oral language, intervention support, and explore extensions, which include play-based activities that support social-emotional learning. The district's strategic plan, starting in 2011, included making full-day kindergarten a top priority since, officials said, families began seeking the educational and social benefits of expanded school for their students. Now, Wallin Oaks alleviates space at the other 17 elementary schools to allow room for a full-day program. "Wallin Oaks was the trigger," Tom Hernandez, the district's director of communication, told Patch. "We had to create more space across the district and this allowed us to do that." RELATED: Full-Day Kindergarten Offered Across District 202 For First Time Wallin Oaks also creates a home base for various special education programs that often moved around year to year based on enrollment and logistics. Long-term, Hernandez said Wallin Oaks also allows the district to anticipate growth patterns. The fifth-largest school district in the state with about 25,000 students, District 202 didn't have space in its other elementary schools to provide a full-day program for the estimated 1,500 students who will want it. Enrollment for the school is ongoing, but preliminary unofficial figures show that estimate to be accurate, according to district officials. Only a few dozen students have registered for half-day kindergarten so far, officials said. "This is an important and significant achievement for our district which has finally come to fruition thanks to a lot of hard work, vision, and commitment by our staff and the Board of Education," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lane Abrell said in a statement. "Giving our littlest learners the best opportunities for success as early as possible will benefit them in school and later in life." RELATED: Back To School: Plainfield 2021-22 School Calendar Officials approved plans in April 2019 to build the school for $25 million, and the district is leasing the building from the bank for $2.5 million for 10 years, after which the district will own Wallin Oaks, according to a news release. The district's tax rate won't increase because of the Wallin Oaks project, but individual tax bills may increase based on property values, officials said. (For more news and information like this, subscribe to the Plainfield Patch for free. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. Don't forget to like us on Facebook!)