Three Nampa grade schools will offer optional all-day kindergarten starting this fall, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported this week.
Owyhee, Reagan and Lake Ridge elementary schools will offer all-day kindergarten to parents who are willing to pay for the extra school hours. The cost will come to $2,160 for the school year, the Press-Tribune reported.
Kindergarten is optional in Idaho, and the state only funds half-day kindergarten.
But Nampa’s move comes as the state is looking to ramping up help for struggling readers — and state-funded all-day kindergarten is among the options. The state’s $9.1 million literacy initiative is designed to provide extra help for kindergartners through third-graders who do not read at grade level. It will be up to districts to decide whether to offer all-day kindergarten, or choose a different approach.
