Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) recently examined the status of kindergarten throughout the state and found that for these programs to become that strong linchpin for young students, programs and standards must be strengthened and better coordination must take place between preschool and grades 1st through 3rd. Over the last year, ACNJ conducted a survey of school administrators and held three focus groups for kindergarten teachers. Key findings include: (1) Weakened importance of kindergarten due to lack of mandate; (2) Full-day v. half-day kindergarten; (3) Addressing PreK-3rd issues; (4) Need for guidelines; (5) Administrative leadership; and (6) Professional development for teachers. This paper presents the following recommendations: (1) Make full-day kindergarten mandatory; (2) Complete and implement guidelines for high-quality kindergarten; (3) Increase professional development for district administrators on early learning; and (4) Increase opportunities for relevant professional development for kindergarten teachers. (Contains 5 footnotes.)