With the start of the new school year quickly approaching, the Avon Grove School District is set to launch a full-day kindergarten program for the district's youngest students.

The first day of school in Avon Grove is Monday, Aug. 28.

The number of students registering for the district's kindergarten program is approaching 300, which is right in line with the projections that were made early in 2017 as district officials were planning to expand to a full-day kindergarten program.

August is a time of heavy student registration, so the number of kindergarten students entering the district could continue to climb. There were 249 students in the half-day kindergarten program for the 2016-2017 school year. District officials expected the full-day program to be a popular option with parents.

Dr. Christopher Marchese, the superintendent of the Avon Grove School District, said that with parents still registering their children, there is no fixed number of kindergarten sections for the 2017-2018 school year yet. However, with the actual registrations tracking so closely to the projections, it appears likely that the district will be able to stay within the district's guidelines regarding class size at the kindergarten level.

District officials have long discussed implementing a full-day kindergarten program for the academic benefits, but it was just within the last two to three years that the concept gained momentum in the district. Avon Grove's top administrators touted the full-day kindergarten program as a way to provide increased instructional time and learning opportunities to students. The additional learning opportunities will benefit students who have under-performed early in their academic careers the most, and give them a stronger foundation to build on as they move through the elementary grades. Avon Grove will now be able to offer more interventions and supports to young learners who might otherwise fall behind in their academic growth.