Dearborn Kindergarten Roundup: What You Need To Know

DEABRORN -- Dearborn Public Schools is inviting parents of next year’s kindergarten students to attend Kindergarten Roundup meetings at their local elementary school to learn more about starting school and how to enroll their child in the district.

Kindergarten Roundups will be held at all 21 of the District’s elementary schools this spring. A full meeting schedule is listed below.

Roundups provide important information to parents with details about the special kindergarten schedule, needed student assessments, classroom structure and instruction, preparing your child for school, and more. Enrolling students this spring, if possible, is also important so the district has accurate information to make staffing decisions for the fall.

To enroll in kindergarten, students must be five years old by September 1 and live within the Dearborn Public School District. Waivers are available for students who will turn five after September 1 but before December 1. For parents already living in the district, the waivers need to be submitted by June 1. See the district website at https://dearbornschools.org/enroll for the waiver and more information.

Dearborn Public Schools also offers a free Young Fives program for students who will turn five between June 15 and December 1 this year. That all-day program is offered at select schools and follows the kindergarten curriculum. The extra year allows those children to better develop the academic and emotional skills they need to succeed in school. The following year they would enroll in kindergarten at their neighborhood school.

Space is limited for Young Fives, so interested parents should check for availability at the school they are interested in attending. Young Fives is held at Geer Park, Haigh, Henry Ford, Lindbergh, Lowrey, Maples, McCollough, McDonald, Oakman, River Oaks, Salina, Whitmore-Bolles and William Ford elementary schools. For more information, contact Student Services at 313-827-3005. Busing is available only if the student will attend their home elementary and lives in an area where busing is provided. In most cases, parents will need to provide transportation for their child.

Kindergarten parents should also be aware Dearborn Schools this year will again use a special schedule for those students. Kindergarteners will have a soft start, meaning half days of school for the first week of class from Aug. 26 to 29. There will also be two additional kindergarten-only days off school on Sept. 27, 2019 and Feb. 7, 2020 to allow for additional professional development for those teachers.

New this year for parents will be the option of starting student enrollment online. Parents can save much of the paperwork by entering information online such as student name, birthday, address, and emergency contact information and completing some required forms electronically. Parents or guardians will still need to visit the elementary school to provide documents and complete the enrollment, but starting enrollment online should make that process simpler and quicker. Online pre-enrollment can also be found at https://dearbornschools.org/enroll.