FOR THE TOWNS that have struggled hardest to accommodate their youngest students, the opening of new buildings and additions built specifically for kindergartners marks the end of a difficult transition.

When the state legislature made kindergarten mandatory in 2009, nearly a dozen communities — including Pelham, Salem, Mason, Litchfield, Milford, Lyndeborough, Windham, Chester, Hudson, Greenville and New Ipswich — had to find space to educate their 5- and 6-year-olds. In many of the districts, portable classrooms were brought in while school boards rushed to negotiate with voters to get the money necessary to build additions, or in some cases, entire new schools.

Milford, according to Supt. Robert Suprenant, was able to build onto Jacques Memorial Elementary after voters agreed to fund the addition in 2010. Wasting no time, the district started building the second school in June; by January 2010, the kindergartners were sitting at their desks.

Though Milford now has plenty of space for its youngsters, the biggest issue this year is getting a grip on class sizes.

“We have 173 students enrolled, but we only forecast 141, so we're running at class sizes of around 20 students to one teacher,” said Suprenant.

The superintendent said that such a huge discrepancy in the number of students forecast is highly unusual and may have something to do with new people moving into the community, as well as people who had planned to send their kids to private kindergartens going public instead.

“We had a lot of registrations over the summer,” he said. “So, currently we've got six classes in the morning and three in the afternoon.”

Suprenant said that a federal grant has allowed the district to hire a new teacher, and aides have been brought in to assist with the classes without busting the budget.

A tough sell

For Lyndeborough Central School, getting voters to support an addition was a tough sell. The district had been presenting proposals to the voters asking for money to add on beginning in 2004, but it wasn't until 2011 — after the district had been busing kindergartners to a private school in Milford at a cost of $5,200 per child — that voters finally approved the addition.

Last week, the first class of kindergartners moved into their new space at Lyndeborough Central School.

“I have the world's most wonderful kindergarten class in the most wonderful, comfortable classroom,” said teacher Iris Houdyshel. “I'm in teacher heaven.”

There are eight students total in the new class, a few more than Principal Susan Tussing expected, but a good number for the inaugural group.

“This is the best thing to happen in my time here,” said Tussing. “I just wish we had been able to start sooner.”

In Windham, the portable classrooms brought in for the kindergartners are gone, replaced by a bright new space at Golden Brook Elementary that opened last week. The six color-coordinated classrooms offer plenty of room for the 180 5- and 6-year-olds to learn and play, and everything the teachers need to run their classrooms efficiently, Principal Christine Michaud said last week.

“We've had a fabulous opening week,” she said, “and the community has been so supportive.”

Pelham's challenge

In Pelham, there are still some space issues to work out. The 84 kindergartners are being taught in the main building at the elementary school, but a bank of portable classrooms is now home to the school's first-graders, according to Principal Thomas Adamakos.

“We're in flux,” he said. “The programming and the staffing haven't been difficult at all, but the facilities are the biggest challenge.”

Pelham, which is in the final stages of separating from the Windham School District, is currently weighing a long list of renovations to the elementary, middle and high schools.

“The immediate concern we have is that state funding is running out,” Superintendent Henry LaBranche said. “There's only funding for one more round and if we miss it, there may not be any building aid available at all.”

After the split

The Mascenic School District was also in the midst of a separation when the kindergarten mandate came into play, but the communities have put many of their problems behind them.

At the time the legislature added the kindergarten requirement to the state's curriculum, Mason was parting ways with Greenville and New Ipswich, its partners in the district. At the same time, all three towns were struggling with facility issues.

After the split, Mason was able to add a new space onto the elementary school for the kindergarten.

But despite having adequate space, New Ipswich ran into some serious problems with the state fire marshal, who ordered parts of the antiquated Appleton Academy shut down due to numerous code and safety violations, many of which simply couldn't be fixed.

Last year, Greenville and New Ipswich came together to build Highbridge Hill Elementary School, a brand new facility next to Mascenic High School, to accommodate all of the elementary school kids from the two towns, including kindergartners.

Meeting special needs

Getting young students off to a strong start is the goal of administrators, who say the new spaces have allowed for some intervention strategies for kids who are struggling.

In Windham, Principal Michaud said that this year, the district is offering full-day kindergarten to 20 kindergarten students who are having a hard time getting started.

“This is brand new for us and lets us offer support to these kids in literacy and numeracy without cutting into our core program,” she said.

In Milford, a similar program is in place, said Suprenant, giving kids who need a bit of extra help more time in the classroom.

But the question he's hearing from lots of parents is whether full-time kindergarten for all students is in the future for Milford.

“It's a factor for parents who are working full-time,” he said.

nfoster@newstote.com