They're in the cafeteria, invading the art rooms and canvassing the playground.

Who are these invaders taking over Karns City's three elementary schools?

They're kindergartners who, once limited to the classroom by their half-day classes, are now enjoying the same activities and privileges as other students.

When the program was accepted last December, morning and afternoon kindergarten sessions were each about 2 hours and 30 minutes long, leaving little time for creative activities such as art and music.

In addition to adding time for students to create art projects and sing songs, Chicora Elementary School Principal Jim Zambelli noted the goal of the program was to give teachers more time to cover the curriculum.

Just a couple months after beginning their first full-day kindergarten classes, teachers, administrators and parents in the district are already calling the modification a success.

"The response has been very positive," said district Superintendent Larry Henry.

According to teachers in the district, having more time to spend on the curriculum has been an advantage.

"We can expand on each and every lesson that we do," said Mary Lavella, a kindergarten teacher at Bruin Elementary. "We have more time for hands on activities."

April McMillen, a kindergarten teacher at Chicora Elementary School noticed that with the extra time for activities, each teacher can use his or her own teaching style and day-to-day schedule, while still progressing through the curriculum at a similar pace.

In addition to academic pursuits, students have time to participate in art projects, music classes and to play on the playground.

Yet the schedule at the start of the school year was not without its glitches, Zambelli said.

For instance, adding a later lunch period resulted in the need for a morning snack time, which was mistaken for an early lunch by some of the new students.

But for McMillen's class, any confusion about the schedule was resolved during the first week.

"The students were very resilient," she said. "They just went with the flow."

While early in the planning stages some teachers and parents voiced concerns about the day being too long for the young students, several teachers said the students seem to have adapted well.

To keep the children awake and attentive, a 20- to 30-minute "down time" is held each afternoon where students can nap, look at books or engage in other quiet activities.

"The only day I see them getting a little tired and cranky is Friday," noted Lori Martin, a teacher at Sugarcreek Elementary. "We try to keep Fridays kind of light."

Since the start of the year, Henry did hear one parent's concern that her student was tired upon returning home from school, but he has observed that some students are tired even after a half-day program.

Chicora kindergarten teacher Mark Jones noted that incoming students may be more prepared for a full day of kindergarten than students 10 years ago due to the rise in students participating in Head Start and preschool programs and with more children spending their days outside the home with baby sitters or in child care centers.

In addition to benefiting the curriculum, the full-day program also eliminates mid-day bus trips.

"I think it's less stressful for the children," said Martin, noting that many students go home after school instead spending a half day with a baby sitter or in a day care facility.

The full day is also less stressful for homemaker Vicky Lucas of Fairview Township, whose son attends kindergarten at Bruin Elementary.

By having her son at school for a full day, she has more time to run errands than she did when her older daughter attended kindergarten, and took a mid-day bus.

"It was pretty quick," said Lucas of the half-day program.

Henry attributes much of the smooth transition to the months of preparation that preceded this school year.

Talk about the new program began in the spring of 2004 and eventually led to the formation of a committee made up of parents, teachers and administrators to evaluate the idea.

Once approved during a Dec. 2004 school board meeting, planning to accommodate the students for a full day was under way.

During the planning stages, kindergarten teachers in the district had the opportunity to observe a full-day kindergarten schedule at schools in Clarion County.

In addition to teaching methods, room had to be provided at each school to accommodate about double the usual number of kindergartners in school at one time.

In the Freeport School District, the reorganization of elementary schools gave the district space to offer both full- and half-day kindergarten classes.

When the district's kindergarten center opened three years ago, families were able to request the program they preferred, and in most cases, the district was able to accommodate their requests, noted principal Wes Shipley.

Since opening, Shipley noticed the trend has reversed from a majority of parents choosing the half-day program three years ago, to 75 percent of families choosing full-day classes this year.

"We've been able to manipulate our staffing in a way that accomodates everyone's requests," said Shipley.

A plan to reorganize Karns City's elementary schools, separating the schools by grade level and not geography, was thrown out even before the kindergarten program was approved.

"The communities very much loved their local elementary schools," said Henry. "So we decided at that point that we would keep those schools and we would look for another way to make the full-day kindergarten program happen.

The school board settled on a plan to purchase modular classrooms for each of the three elementary schools: single classrooms for Bruin and Sugarcreek and a double classroom structure for Chicora Elementary School.

Instead of placing regular classes in the modular rooms, the structures were designated for music and art, meaning each class would only have to travel outside once or twice a week for programs.

The structures were purchased during the 2004-05 school year using funds from an Accountability Block Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

This fall, the grant funding went to pay the salaries for four new kindergarten positions, two at Chicora and one at each other school.

But space was not the only challenge facing the three elementary schools. New schedules had to accommodate students in the cafeteria, library, art and music classes.

In addition to the new teaching positions, a part-time librarian was hired within the district to allow students time to have library activities while their teachers have some planning time.

For the teachers in the Karns City School District, the work has paid off.

"I think we found a rhythm," said Jones. "We're rolling along."