Sacred Heart School, a private Catholic school on Saratoga Avenue, recently announced to parents that it's moving to an all-day kindergarten format. It's a format that public school districts in Saratoga and Cupertino already have, and a move the Diocese of San Jose has been studying since the trend is growing across the nation.

"Most students come to kindergarten after two or three years of preschool," Sacred Heart Principal Arlene Bertellotti said. "It's more than just a play experience."

The move to an all-day format is attributed to parents holding off starting their children in kindergarten until they are age 6 or nearly 6, based on research that shows that children who start when they are older do better throughout grade school. In addition, outcomes for kindergarten and first grade have been set higher, especially in terms of reading readiness. The extra time in a longer classroom day allows for a more rigorous curriculum, said Sacred Heart parent Ellen Roeckl, a proponent of the new format.

"The day is far less rushed to get things done that need to be done during the day," Bertellotti said.

"You are very minute-conscious as a kindergarten teacher," added Terri McClenahen, who will be implementing the new format along with two assistants.

The format will be the same as Saratoga public schools, with all children attending a full day of school three days a week and a half day two days a week. Half of the class will stay until 3 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. The entire class will attend all day on Wednesday, and the other half of the class will stay until 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

"The format will be mostly academics in the mornings and developmental and motor skills curriculum in the afternoon," Roeckl said.

"The whole thing is the perfect compromise for working mothers and stay-at-home mothers," added Susan Lucas, the school's development director.

Lucas said the format only requires daycare for children of working mothers two days a week. It also offers flexibility for the children of stay-at-home mothers to visit their grandparents or take a swimming or ballet class on the days they are let out early.

McClenahen said she's looking forward to the time in the afternoon to work with students in small groups. With this year's program, the same students are together all of the time.

"I'll have more of an opportunity to split them by ability, development, personality," McClenahen said.

Amy Ebertin, a Sacred Heart parent whose 5-year-old daughter Molly will be enrolled in the program next year, believes that having her daughter stay longer will be wonderful improvement.

"I like the way that Arlene and Terri looked at all the different programs and took the time to meet everyone's needs," Ebertin said. She is also looking forward to the two days a week where she'll be able to have lunch with her daughter, take her to soccer, ballet or just do nothing in particular. Bertellotti said the program will be evaluated to track its effectiveness, and may eventually move to an all-day, everyday format.

The school's kindergarten program for next year is still accepting applications. For more information, contact Bertellotti at 408.867.9241 or email a.bertellotti@sacredheartsaratoga.org.