Viewfinder: Breaking Ground for All-Day Kindergarten at Hanover

City and school officials joined forces this afternoon to break ground for a new wing for Hanover Elementary School to house an all-day kindergarten program. On Tuesday, December 20, the school board will vote on bringing full-day K to the entire district. If the measure passes, as expected, all-day kindergarten for all Meriden children will begin in the fall.

"I'm very confident that on Tuesday night the board will move this forward," School Board President Mark Hughes told the crowd at the groundbreaking ceremony Friday afternoon.

The Hanover addition will house not only kindergartners for that school, but also for the overcrowded Casimir Pulaski School. Originally scheduled to be finished before the start of the 2012-13 school year, delays have pushed the occupancy date back to January of 2013. But plans to start all-day kindergarten in the fall will move ahead anyway, provided the measure passes Tuesday. Hanover will house the displaced students in temporary classrooms until the new wing is ready for them, according to School Superintendent Mark Benigni.

"We are sending a message to the community that the education of our children is a priority," Benigni said at the event.

Deputy Mayor Matthew Dominello praised the move to full-day kindergarten as an investment in "the future of our city--our children."