Kindergarten News

If you have a kindergartener or children who will soon be going to kindergarten, we have important news for you! The kindergarten admission birth date is changing gradually over the next three years. SB 1381 (Simitian, Chapter 705, Statutes of 2010) will, over a period of three years, phase in a change in the admission birth date from Dec. 2 for entry into kindergarten. Beginning in the fall of 2012, children must be 5 years old by Nov.1 to enroll in kindergarten. In the fall of 2013, they must be 5 years old by Oct. 1; and in the fall of 2014, they must be 5 years old by September 1. Under the legislation, a child born after September 1 may still be admitted to kindergarten on a case-by-case basis, if the parent or guardian applies for early admission, and the school district agrees it would be in the best interests of the child. This legislation also requires school districts to establish Transitional Kindergarten programs, using modified kindergarten curricula for those “young fives” displaced by the change in the age of admission. All too often, children who start kindergarten at the age of 4 have been shown to have negative progress academically later in school. Transitional Kindergarten is intended to build a bridge between preschool years and traditional kindergarten. Michael Butler
Parent Involvement Advocate
California State PTA
Reprinted from Sacramento Update,
January 2011