Starting this fall, all kindergarten students at Panther Valley Elementary will attend school for the full day.

The school board voted 6-0 Thursday night to approve a new all-day kindergarten program.

By attending all day, students will benefit from consistency, routine and more time to develop social skills, according to elementary school Principal Robert Palazzo.

“With full-day kindergarten, research shows that people make more progress than half-day kindergarten,” Palazzo said.

With Panther Valley going full day, every school in Carbon County now has full-day kindergarten. In the surrounding area, Tamaqua and Pleasant Valley are still on a half-day system.

The main reason that schools did a half day of kindergarten for many years was the assumption that young students weren’t developmentally prepared for a full day. But Palazzo said Panther Valley will make time for gym, music, recess and structured play. The students will not be seated at their desks for six hours.

“There will be opportunities to work on other skills they need to be successful,” Palazzo said.

Many students at Panther Valley come from Head Start programs in the area, which run all day. Those students would likely be prepared for a full day at school.

Teachers have been supportive of the idea, Palazzo said. They said it would give more opportunity for projects, and with one group of students, they would be able to share more information with parents.

Superintendent Dennis Kergick said they haven’t finalized the cost or staffing for the new program, but said it would be worth the benefit that full-day kindergarten will provide for students.

Kergick said the district has been discussing full-day kindergarten for several years. When Palazzo took over last January, he was also in support of the idea.

“I like the idea of having a full day,” Kergick said.