FAIRMONT — Fairmont Elementary School is looking for an additional kindergarten teacher for the 2019-20 school year due to a significant increase in enrollment.

Superintendent Joe Brown explained that they’re always planning a year ahead for the next school year. Last year, when they were looking at the 2019-20 school year, it looked like they would have around 100 kindergarten students as they had the past few years.

“Actually, right now today we have 115 registered,” Brown said, adding that they have 10 more from the previous year in the Fairmont school system that haven’t yet registered, so they could have as many as 125 for this school year.

The Fairmont Area School district plans to have about 1650 students E-12 for this next school year. Currently there are five different kindergarten classes. Brown said they to keep their kindergarten class numbers to 17-20.

Elementary co-principal, Michelle Rosen, whose background and experience is in early childhood education, said they were not expecting the increase.

“We either need to have bigger classes or hire more staff,” Rosen said, adding that they chose the later. She explained why having smaller classes for kindergarten is important.

“They come with different needs because they haven’t had school before. A third grader has had several years of going from class to class and they know what school is. Kindergarteners have gone to preschool, but it’s only been two and half hours a day and the school day is closer to seven hours. It’s very different. If we can keep our younger classes a litter smaller, we can really teach them those skills of how to do school,” Rosen explained.

Skills kindergarteners need to learn include how to self-regulate, listen and respond, play with friends for a longer period of time and take care of themselves without parents around.

Rosen said the kindergarten classes typically have an aid in them for half a day, but if they have a bigger class they may have an aid full-time.

Brown speculated on what he believes the increase is due to.

“One, we’ve had a successful preschool program. Michelle has done a wonderful job expanding it. Not every school has a VPK program and we do so our preschool numbers have grown,” Brown explained.

VPK, which stands for voluntary pre-kindergarten, is a free program instituted for the purpose of preparing four-year-olds for kindergarten the following year. Fairmont had 80 students in the VPK program this past school year, which is the max capacity. There are 80 students enrolled in VPK for this school year, too.

“Plus we have picked up a umber of students from regional schools. There’s a good number that are open enrolling here,” Brown said.

Brown said they have one classroom available and have already received six applications since the position was posted last Friday.