Butler School District employees are spending time this summer preparing for the district’s coming switch to a full-day kindergarten schedule.

Julie Hopp, district curriculum director, said a committee of about a dozen kindergarten teachers has formed to work out ways to take advantage of the increased amount of instructional time. They’ve held a few meetings so far, with more planned, she said.

“Our students aren’t always coming in with all the reading skills they should be, and it causes a disadvantage for all of elementary,” Hopp said. “The earlier we can address important skills, especially literacy skills, the easier they are to learn.”

On literacy, the district is going from having no set goal for total classroom literacy to a hard-set goal dictated in a new strategic plan. The educators hope to have all their students reading by the end of third grade. A coordinated effort in kindergarten will only make it easier, Hopp said, with struggling students getting more time with letters and words.

One teacher subcommittee is working on new ways to develop social and emotional skills. They’re planning something called structured play — not to be confused with recess or “free play,” Hopp said.

“The teacher will be coming up with scenarios and activities for kids to use and develop social skills,” she said.

Maintenance staff finished consolidating furniture from kindergarten classes earlier this week.

Superintendent Brian White said the district is planning to have 23 kindergarten classes and maintain roughly the same class size as last year. The district expects to have about 400 kindergartners, like last year, with class sizes between 17 and 20 students.

Kindergarten teachers will be switching from teaching two sections of half day classes to one full day group. The number of kindergarten teaching positions is increasing from 12.5 to 23, with reading specialists being moved into kindergarten teaching jobs to fill out the extra class sections.

All first grade teachers will now be getting the same specialized reading training as reading specialists, according to official plan documents.

By switching to a full day schedule, the district will no longer need to bus kindergartners in the middle of the school day separate from other students. White projects the change will save the district $218,000 annually.

Student screening processes this summer are being used to build classrooms with a goal of balanced skill levels. There won’t be some classrooms with higher levels and others at lower levels, Hopp. Rather, classrooms will be composed of an even mix of student levels, she said.

The full-day class program is being implemented on an opt-out basis. Families wanting to stay on a half-day schedule need to speak with their school’s principal.

White said he believes next school year will bring essentially a total shift over to the new all-day schedule, based on similar transitions in other districts.