The instructions were fairly straightforward:
- Complete four forms and return to the office by February 23.
- registration form
- home language survey
- health information form
- dismissal form
- When returned, bring with you:
- original birth certificate and social security card
- proof of parent or guardian's residency
- official immunization record
- On March 6th parent orientation will be held at 9:00 a.m.
- Kindergarten screening is on May 30 and 31, your appointment will be given to you when you return your paperwork.
A slight difference from the other instructions, but not too bad. We completed the paperwork, turned it in, got our appointment, and are awaiting the orientation.
In the US this week was an announcement from the school district regarding Kindergarten registration. In it parents are told that they:
- need to register with the school district during the month of March.
- must call the school they will attend to make an appointment for registration.
- dates are provided, Shafer is noted as March 6.
- Registrations are in group sessions.
- parents must submit birth certificate, proof of residency, social security card, and immunizations at registration.
- at registration parents will be asked to complete a health history form.
This seems to be a case of repetitive work and a lack of communication. The letter sent home could have been slightly modified for the announcement and the same information would have gone to everyone. This is obviously a very small example, but I think a good one. When you have an abundance of administrators you need to justify the work they do. Someone was probably put in charge of coordinating K registration across the district and this is the result - conflicting instructions.
8 comments:
confusion continues(@ least @ Shafer):
March 6th at 9am is the orientation for everyone-no appt needed
testing is not 5/30 and 31 as we recv'd a 5/24 test date appt
proof of residency HAS to be in the form of valid drivers license with current address-we were turned away with less than that--two years ago a utility bill sufficed-go figure
My wife said the same about the 5/30 and 5/31 dates, apparently they've been moved up a week as you say.
See you on the 6th!
Ross, I agree with you. You would think that one of the administrators would be in charge of Kindergarten Registration and it would be the same for the entire district, but for some reason, (I think it's because that makes sense and whatever makes sense, at least in NASD, we don't do) that is not the case and each school is different. I realize that each school isn't identical in what goes on behind the walls, as is the same in any classroom, but something like Kindergarten registration should be done one way for everyone! Admin acts like it's no big deal, but parents from all buildings talk and when they find out one of them has to do more or less than another, they start to have questions why. It just presents us with another potential problem we don't need.
Also to anonymous, there have been many problems in the district with residency issues so this is probably why the drivers license is now required.
Not sure what people are talking about as far as consistency, maybe the information in the paper conflicts with the letter, but my child will be going to BES and I had to turn in the same paperwork prior to getting my screening date
My only point initially was that one thing told you to submit materials by a certain date and another told you to bring them to the registration.
Additionally, one thing told you when the meeting would be and the other told you to call the school and make an appointment.
This not only creates some confusion, especially for parents who haven't previously registered a child for K, but also more work for the office staff who will be getting unnecessary calls and having to explain what the real process is.
Finally, it struck me as possibly happening as a result of having too many cooks in the kitchen.
After the post, it was correctly noted that the dates provided in the letter were wrong/changed.
I would just like to comment that the notice in the local paper always seemed a bit misleading to me. Yes, it's factually correct that in order to register you must do such and such. But it leaves out the fact that in Pennsylvania you do not need to start compulsory education until the child is eight years old. During this time a child may be home educated without having to follow any sort of regulations. Once the child is eight they must be enrolled in a school or homeschooled following PA's homeschooling regulations.
A parent may wish to take advantage of these two years to either give their child a head start and/or to try their hand at homeschooling. A child who is already beginning to read at 6 years old may actually find themselves being hindered if they are placed in a classroom with children that do not read.
I'm just sayin' :-)
For your information, school districts may ask for social security numbers but you are not required to provide them. SS#s were created to track a person's lifetime earnings, not serve as a convenient way of establishing a student identification number. Don't believe me? Check the website... www.ssa.gov
Anon 7:47, I think your comment was the first to broach the subject of SS#'s so I don't think anyone was challenging you.
I'd also note they request a social security card and this is probably a verification that the child is a legal US Citizen.
There are new guidelines/legislation regarding the SS# that was discussed at the last Council workshop as it related to using the SS# to track individuals.
They can't do it any longer. The conversation was about purchasing a product that would essentially transition from SS# to some other uniquely generated number. I forget off-hand but think it might have been in the system used for sewer bills.
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