Puyallup to Offer All-Day Kindergarten at Three Schools

From the Puyallup School District: 

The Puyallup School District will offer free, full-day kindergarten at Firgrove, Spinning, and Stewart elementary schools beginning this fall.

Applications for the full-day kindergarten program will be accepted through 4 p.m. on Friday, August 23. The forms are available to download and fill out from this district website or may be picked up at the Education Service Center (ESC) reception desk, 302 Second St. S.E., Puyallup. 

The district learned in July that the three schools qualified for state funding for full-day kindergarten as part of the 2013-15 state biennial operating budget signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on June 30.

Spinning and Firgrove elementary schools were announced as eligible full-day kindergarten sites in early July. A few weeks later, the state announced that Stewart Elementary also qualified for the funding. 

The new full-day kindergarten is being phased in statewide beginning with schools that have the highest percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. 

First priority for enrollment in the new full-day kindergarten classes will go to kindergartners who live in the Firgrove, Spinning, and Stewart attendance areas.

Letters and full-day kindergarten applications will be sent to families from those three schools that have already registered their children to start kindergarten in fall.

Families that have not yet registered incoming kindergartners are encouraged to do so this summer. Registration is offered for all grade levels from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday through August 14 at the ESC in downtown Puyallup (corner of Meridian Street and Pioneer Avenue).

In addition to the full-day kindergarten application form, all families of incoming kindergartners must complete a 2013-14 Enrollment Packet.

Puyallup School District families that live outside of the Firgrove, Spinning, or Stewart elementary school attendance areas are also welcome to apply for the full-day kindergarten program.

There will be five full-day kindergarten seats at Firgrove, Spinning, and Stewart elementary schools that will be reserved for students who live in the Puyallup School District but reside outside of the three school attendance areas.

The district will enroll up to 20 students in each of the full-day kindergarten classes. If more than 20 students enroll, a drawing will be held to determine which students are placed in the program. 

The drawing will be held the last week of August and will give attention to balancing the class by gender, said Amy Eveskcige, chief academic officer of Regional Learning Community #3. Once the 20 class slots are filled, students not selected will be placed on a waiting list, she said.

In addition to the 2013-14 Full-Day Kindergarten Application Form and 2013-14 Enrollment Packet, families from outside the three school attendance areas must fill out an In District Transfer Application. All forms are available on this district website and at the ESC reception desk.

Bus transportation to and from school will be provided to full-day kindergarten students who reside within the Firgrove, Spinning, and Stewart elementary school attendance areas. Transportation is not provided for students who transfer from other school attendance areas to the three full-day kindergarten sites.

Making the Decision (pdf, 76kb)

Full-Day Kindergarten Program (pdf, 76kb) 

2013-14 Full-Day Kindergarten Application Form (pdf, 81kb)

2013-14 Enrollment Packet (pdf, 4.3MB)

In District Transfer Application (pdf, 115kb)