School districts are beginning to plan for their next classes of kindergartners with the first day of school six months away.
Kindergarten registration begins next week in Bentonville and Fayetteville for children who will be 5 on or before Aug. 1. Registration for incoming Rogers kindergartners begins in March and for incoming Springdale kindergartners in April.
Getting ready for kindergarten?
State officials have developed a kindergarten readiness checklist of 38 skills that will help children make the transition to school including:
• Speaking in complete sentences.
• Following directions with at least two steps.
• Singing familiar songs and nursery rhymes.
• Working puzzles.
• Recognizing the letters of their first name.
• Holding books right side up and turning pages one at a time from front to back.
• Taking care of self, including toileting, washing hands and dressing.
• Adjusting to new situations without parents.
• Using pencils, crayons and markers for drawing and writing and cutting with scissors.
• Running, jumping, hopping, and throwing, catching and bouncing a ball.
The full list can be found at humanservices.arkan…
Source: Arkansas Departments of Education and Human Services
Parents can prepare their children not only by helping them learn some letters, numbers and colors, but also with developing social skills, said Tara Lechtenberger, Washington Elementary School counselor. Routines of going to bed early and rising early prepare children for the structure of the school day.
"If you're sitting and reading to your child, they're practicing paying attention through an entire story," Lechtenberger said. "When you're playing with other kids outside of school, it's easier on the playground sharing, taking turns, not always being first."
To register children for kindergarten, parents will need to complete school registration forms and provide their child's school with documentation of their residency and copies of their child's birth certificate, Social Security card and immunization record. Children also need a physical exam at a doctor's office.
Parents should contact their school districts for questions about their child's assigned school.
Parents who want their children to attend a school outside of their resident school district have until May 1 to apply for a school choice transfer.
Families who plan to delay enrolling their child in kindergarten for a year must complete a kindergarten waiver form available through the Arkansas Department of Education website, arkansased.gov.
Fayetteville
Registration forms for Fayetteville families will be available at www.fayar.net, starting Monday,according to the School District. Parents should complete and print the forms and take them to Kindergarten Roundup events from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at their child's school.
"It is the beginning of the kindergarten enrollment," said John L. Colbert, associate superintendent for elementary education. "On that day, we try to encourage parents to come out."
Parents have until August to enroll their children, but they risk classes filling up at their child's neighborhood school if they wait until then, Colbert said. When classes are full in August, children are required to attend another school that has an opening until space opens at their neighborhood school.
The first day of school is Aug. 17 for most Fayetteville schools, though Asbell Elementary, Happy Hollow Elementary and Owl Creek School will start Aug. 3.
Bentonville
Families in the Bentonville School District can register online at bentonvillek12.org, starting Thursday, according to the district. Early registration will end at 3 p.m. March 3.
Families who register early can finish the registration process at the school their child will attend from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 14, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 15 and from 7 a.m. to noon March 16.
However, enrollment for families who don't register early will begin April 4 during the school day at their child's school.
Bentonville schools require two documents to prove residency, such as a property tax receipt or lease agreement and current utility bill or current bills from two utilities.
The first day of school isn't set, said Paul Stolt, spokesman. The Bentonville School Board will hear a presentation on calendar options for the new school year on Tuesday.
Rogers
Kindergarten registration for Rogers School District is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 pm. March 1 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 2 at the child's school. Registration forms are online at www.rogersschools.net.
The first day of school is Aug. 15 for most Rogers schools, though Eastside Elementary School begins the new school year on July 28, said Ashley Siwiec, spokeswoman.
Springdale
Springdale elementary schools will begin registering children for kindergarten on April 4 at their child's assigned school, said Kathy Morledge, an assistant superintendent for elementary schools.
Parents can register their children for kindergarten after April 4, but Morledge recommends parents plan to register early to give school officials time to make plans, she said. The new school year for Springdale schools begins Aug. 15.
NW News on 02/13/2016