Elementary schools are bursting with excitement this week as families register five-year olds to start kindergarten in September, School District 43 early learning coordinator Andrea Hunter told the board of education Tuesday, and this spring many families will be invited to attend special Welcome to Kindergarten events to get the children ready for learning.
"We are working along side families," said Hunter, as she described the learning events that will take place later in May and June to give educators a chance to assess the new crop of students and build relationships with their parents.
Parents will also be given a Welcome to Kindergarten bag containing picture books, magnetic letters and numbers, a scribbler and coloured construction paper, an information pamphlet, play dough and templates of upper and lower case letters and numbers, as well as tips on how to use the materials with their children.
This year SD43 is expected to register 2,100 kindergarten students at 45 elementary schools across the district. Regular kindergarten registration started Tuesday, Feb. 3 and runs through to Thursday, Feb. 5 at catchment schools, with out of catchment registration starting Friday Feb. 6.
Registration for programs of choice such as Early French Immersion, Montessori, Bilingual Mandarin and Reggio Influenced programs already took place in January.
"It's a busy time," assistant superintendent Carey Chute told The News, noting that registration numbers are about normal for the district, with the Burke Mountain neighbourhood being among the busiest areas for kindergarten registration.
