Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast, Board of Education President Sharon Cox, County Executive Douglas Duncan, and other officials will visit Waters Landing Elementary School in Germantown on the opening day of school, August 30, from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

Waters Landing is among 17 schools that will have full-day kindergarten classes for the first time this year. This brings to 73 the total number of schools offering full-day kindergarten to students - well over half of the 117 elementary schools in the school system with kindergarten classes. With the current expansion, the school system is on track for full-day kindergarten in all elementary schools by the state deadline of fall 2007.

Full-day kindergarten is part of the Early Success Performance Plan for Pre-K through Grade 2 to raise the bar for all students and provide them with the skills and knowledge to succeed in reading, writing, and mathematics. Local, state, and national assessments have shown MCPS students from all racial and ethnic groups achieving at higher levels in kindergarten and sustaining their performance through early elementary grades.

The full-day kindergarten program represents an investment of more than $10 million from fiscal years 2001 through 2005 and more than $23 million for the Pre-K through Grade 2 Early Success initiative.