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Accidents happen.
But when Robin Cruickshank's happy, well-adjusted 4-year-old began wetting his pants at school this fall, she grew concerned.
Her son Isaac seemed to be thoroughly enjoying kindergarten and had never had a problem when he attended a large daycare centre last year.
"I thought something was wrong with him," says the working mother.
Her mind was quickly set at ease through daily check-ins with staff in the Waterloo Region District School Board's pioneering full-day kindergarten program that uses the same early childhood educators (ECEs) who are in the classroom during the day to run the school's extended day program, which begins at 7 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m.
It is part of what provincial Early Learning Advisor Charles Pascal calls the "seamless day of learning" as opposed to a school day bookended by child care, where children go back and forth between two distinct programs run by different adults.
"I told mom there was no need to take her son to the doctor," says Lisa Tonner, the classroom ECE at Bridgeport Public School who oversees the after-school portion of the day. "I said it was probably just the new school environment and transition to kindergarten."
A couple of weeks ago, just as Tonner predicted, the accidents stopped.
"Isaac had another terrific day," Tonner tells Cruickshank when she arrives around 5:30 p.m. to pick up her son.
Isaac, who is playing Beyblades with his school buddies in a corner of the kindergarten room, has already had a snack of Goldfish crackers and spent an hour playing outside since school ended at 3:30 p.m. His mother is delighted with the program.
"It's so helpful to have that connection with the teachers," Cruickshank says. "And it is so much easier for him to come here than have to go to a daycare centre after school."
For parents like Cruickshank, the ability to communicate with their children's school team of teachers and ECEs at the start and end of the working day sets school-run extended day programs apart.
"One of the biggest benefits of our program versus one that starts cold at 3:30 is that I know how the children have been since lunchtime," says Tonner, who starts at 12:30 p.m. allowing for a one-hour overlap with the morning-shift ECE who starts at 7 a.m. The ECEs work as a team with a classroom teacher who works a regular school day.
"When someone walks in cold at 3:30, they wouldn't know if little Jimmy's had a sore tummy earlier in the day or if somebody's fish has died or another's mother had a baby," Tonner says. "A third party doesn't have the whole story. Personally, I think that is huge."
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But Waterloo Region District School Board is one of just a handful of Ontario boards delivering extended day programming as part of all-day kindergarten.
Most other boards, including those in the Greater Toronto Area, are using non-profit daycare providers to deliver before- and after-school programs in schools where families show an interest.
It is an approach that baffles Waterloo school board administrators like executive superintendent Mary Lou Mackie.
"How much longer do we sit around the table talking about the patchwork approach to early learning? I got tired of talking and said it's time for action," she says of her board's crusade.
"Fortunately, we have had the full backing of our trustees," she adds.
The advantage of board-run programs is a closely monitored, high-quality program with fewer transitions for children. Staff is part of the school and report to the principal. Programs use existing space and classroom resources like books, water tables and dramatic centres. And they encourage strong home-school connections that researchers say are key to student success.
"Schools struggle with how to engage parents. The extended-day program increases parent engagement and is a great way to connect parents to the building," says Mackie.
"What's more, you are maximizing the use of community schools, which is very efficient from a taxpayer point of view," she adds.
By contrast, daycares have their own staff and administrators. They typically use their own space and don't share classroom materials. And communication between school and daycare staff can be a challenge.
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Queen's Park had originally mandated school boards provide the program when 20 or more families in a school request it.
But some school boards balked at the extra administrative load and child-care operators complained about being evicted from schools they had served for more than a generation. So last December, the ministry gave boards the option to contract with non-profit third parties to operate extended day programs.
As a result, most school boards have opted to stick with daycares to deliver before- and after-school care where a minimum of 20 parents request it.
"We have wonderful providers that we have worked with for 25 years," says Peel District School Board Chair Janet McDougald, referring to Peel Lunch and After School (PLASP), the area's largest program.
"They have done an excellent job. Our parents have great confidence in them and we felt, why try to fix something that isn't broken," she adds.
In the Toronto District School Board where about three-quarters of elementary schools have on-site child care, trustees are also reluctant to step in.
"There is a deep body of expertise, the program that is being offered is excellent and the parents are comfortable with it," says board vice-chair Cathy Dandy.
Waterloo is feeling pushback from daycares, too.
"It's putting us in a somewhat challenging position," says John Haddock, president and CEO of the YMCAs of Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo, which operates in 25 public and Catholic elementary schools.
But as Podrebarac notes, daycares are operating in schools where demand is high and waiting lists are long. If the board can offer a higher-quality program to more children in those schools, it will be better for families and allow the board to operate in schools where demand is lower, but the need is just as great.
"We're learning that if you build it, they will come," he says.
For example, the board decided to offer an extended-day program in a school where just five families had signed up last spring. By September, 19 children had enrolled. Similarly, a high-needs downtown school that operated with just eight children last year, has 24 enrolled this year.
Board superintendent Mackie says expanding extended-day programs is a matter of "social justice."
"We want to get to communities that don't have anything, because this is going to be the great equalizer."
- reprinted from the Star