Vicki Arthur, principal of Dearing Elementary School, 3046 S. Ferndale St., believes the key to academic success is continued stimulation. Good habits, when it comes to learning and education in general, should start as early as possible. With 70 percent of her students being English Language Learners, she realizes a 2 1/2-hour-per-day kindergarten just isn't enough to get them prepared for first grade.

Arthur, herself a former kindergarten teacher, has been pushing for a program that lasted the same length of time as a typical school day for three years. She finally got her wish this fall. Dearing became one of the first schools in the district to implement an all-day kindergarten.