MEDFORD, Ore. – At Kids Unlimited Academy (KUA), students begin their school year earlier than others, but are starting their day later at 9 a.m. The kindergarten through fifth grade public charter school was the first in Oregon to expand its academic calendar to 11 months. Now they are opening their doors at 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to allow students to arrive for breakfast and participate in morning enrichment, which includes academics, movement, and mindfulness. The schedule caters to working families, who can utilize KUA’s extended day as an alternative to childcare.
Tom Cole, the CEO of Kids Unlimited cites national studies for the change, saying “Most importantly, it gives them enough time to get a good breakfast, right? We cook our own food, cooked from scratch. So they are getting something nutritious to start their day off, and on top of that, they are able to plug into things like mindfulness, or martial arts, or music, or dance, theater.”
The public charter school is open to students within the Medford School District and approved transfers. In 2021 KUA’s board voted to extend the academic calendar, a move widely supported by families. Nearly all of KUA’s 540 students live in poverty, and about 70% are from Latinx households.
Every student is eligible for free breakfast, lunch, and dinner on-site, and most students get the majority of their daily nutrition at school. Cole characterizes morning enrichment as a “buffer” between home and school life that helps to calm and settle into the school day when so many families have different schedules and dynamics.
KUA founder Tom Cole believes the pandemic worsened the learning loss associated with summer breaks, highlighting deficiencies in both education and vital services for children in need.
“We are constantly evolving. We are responding to what we learn from parents. Responding from what we learn from kids, and then we are growing new programs as a reflection of those things.”
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