Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments State laws re. minimum age for grades

DS has a Jan. birthday which falls after our state cut-offs for enrollment for both K and 1st grade. Because of this we were not able to do early entrance for K and will not be able to skip K/accelerate to 1st (next fall).

Does anyone have any ideas that have helped you successfully work-around these dates with your state or schools?

Who knew being overdue by 2 weeks would continue to haunt me years after the pregnancy was over?!?

I am sure every state is a little different, but our state usually requires a student to be 5 years by July 30th to enter kindergarten. Public schools are not very flexible for early entry due to class sizes. Many parents choose a private school for kindergarten (as did I) in our area if a child is ready to start. DD was enrolled in the school for preschool and her teacher recommended early entrance to Kindergarten.

Once a child has completed Kindergarten (regardless of age), they can then proceed to any public school for 1st grade. We moved to a different school district in the middle of 1st grade and the school interviewed DD but either way she was ok to continue her studies.

I would recommend checking out private schools with flexible admission or charter schools in the area.

Jen

Our state is Sept 1. We had to wait until DS was actually in K before starting the process. He's now in 1st.

OUr's is Sept 1st. The child has to be 5 before then to enter K. Our public schools will not do early entrence. For 1st grade there is no requirment other then having completed K.
I second looking at private or charter for early entrence.

Our school district is the same way, must be 5 by Sept. 1 to start K, DS bday is in mid Oct. By chance I ran into a principal in our district at a kids party and he shared with me that there is a way to get around this. Basically you have to put in a special request, form hidden on schools website, after which time they test the kid. Assuming they past the test (never realized how serious these folks take the child's ability to cut correctly with scissors, lol) they are allowed early entrance.

The same holds true for someone wanting to skip K with the exception that you must be observed in the K setting for a few weeks before being moved. I say all this to say to be sure to comb thru your districts website and speak to as many folks as you can as there could possibly be an unadvertised way of getting this done. Good luck

-Guy

I know in Florida they do not allow early entrance to K and they do not allow you to skip K at all - no exceptions :-( I was told my the FLorida Dept of Education that was in place because Kindergarten is not mandatory except for children who turn 6 after January - then they must be enrolled in K.

We circumvented this (IL) Sept 1st policy by going private. The local Catholic school was willing to meet our children after my second call plea. In our state, after successfully completion of first grade at a private school, a student must be placed sequentially upon returning to the public system.

Note; it seems to be only a state �policy� as I know of at least two very well connected exceptions.

I also know of a few exceptions in N. IL where it seems they simply had better informed administrators and/ or school boards.

Never lose hope until you've truly talked to everyone everywhere because you just never know. Don't necessarily get your hopes up too high, but it's always worth a shot.

My DD8 just missed the cutoff here of Sept 1 (8 days). I can't tell you how many times we were told by various people throughout the district that there were no exceptions to the deadline. Over time we just kept asking various people, from the office staff at the elementary school to the screeners at the k-screening (after she blew the eval out of the water) to eventually the superintendant, who told us it was district policy but truly up to the school principal. We heard a lot of "Sure she can read, but that doesn't make her ready for kindergarten." We knew it was much more than being able to read so we persevered. We had a back-up plan, though, to attend a private K and enter public 1st if need be, which is allowed here.

Once we got the attention of the school principal through a letter and phone call, we had to prove she wasn't just "another kid whose parents thought she was smart." We had my DD's Montessori preschool teacher provide her "report card" and a letter stating she was absolutely ready for K. My DD had to go into the elementary school and be observed in a k class as a visitor for an hour or so. We had to fill out a parent assessment form. We had to meet with the principal, a k teacher, and the school psychologist to discuss their concerns (they wanted to make sure that she'd had school experience previously, and that we understood all the ramification of being the youngest yada yada yada). And, it turns out -- although we didn't know it at the time -- during her time meeting with the school psych, she was administered the WPPSI and an achievement test. They were very thorough. I don't blame them for wanting proof. They do have to worry about "if we do it for one we have to do it for everyone who asks." Turns out she was the first child ever admitted early in our district. They said it couldn't be done, but when we showed them she was ready, they eventually saw the need. Two years later she was grade-skipped again.

This year my DS5.5 was scheduled to go to K but we ended up asking for him to skip K. They now had a more formal policy (as a result of my DD's experience). We had to do the parent eval., he met with a first grade teacher to do their beginning of the year assessments, and he was given both an intellectual and an achievement assessment. He ended up skipping K. I know that we have a really open-minded and exceptional principal and that we're lucky.

So, my point is, there may be a policy against early admittance, and in some states it can be and is rock solid, but *sometimes* there is a way for them to make a quiet exception to the often-stated "policy." Of course, a law can be a whole different thing. . . One note: here we have a written acceleration plan that requires us to reevaluate the situation along the way and adjust as needed, which might be a good thing to offer a slightly hesitant school district -- they won't be so afraid that they would be stuck with a bad acceleration if it doesn't work.

HTH

My favorite sentence in the whole wide world. It's like a rabbit on the dog track for me.

We went the private-school route for our son. Skipped K and attended 1st @ private, then off to the public for 2nd.

Although the outcome was good in your instance, I can't believe that they administered an IQ test to your child without your permission! I would have been livid!

That aside -- our local districts have an age by which a child must turn 5 to be in K and an age by which s/he must turn 6 to enter 1st. After that, they are much more flexible. So, the only way to get around the K or 1st cut-off that we've found are the following:

1) Have the child attend a private school for K and 1st and then transfer in to public school as a 2nd grader the next year.
or
2) Have the child complete a year of public K in a state or district with a later cut-off in which instance they overlook the "6 by x date" cut-off for first. A year of K in private school does not work. They make the kids who did private K repeat K in the public school.

CA is a bit more flexible on early entrance. Kids must be 5 by Dec. 2 to enter K. The minimum age for enrollment in 1st is also 5. So DS (with late Nov. b-day) was enrolled in K until he turned 5 and was then switched to 1st midyear.

I should have clarified: we did know that she was meeting with the psych and being assessed, we just weren't told what exactly the assessment involved or what her exact scores were. We were new to the process and it was going along swimmingly and my DD was having her needs met, so we didn't ask too many questions. Now, knowing what I know, we would insist on knowing all the details and getting all the data.

Or they have to have gone through K at a private school and have proof of it (homeschooling does not count as far as I could find out...). Once they hit the door of the K classroom the teacher can just wave at them and send them up to first (what happened with Wolf). It's ridiculously silly in my opinion.

This is what we are finding so far. The law dictates a minimum age for K and 1st. After umpteen phone calls/e-mails to the Dept. of Ed, it seems (although it depends who you talk to) that the 1st grade law is based purely on the school receiving the state's money for him as a student.

The school CAN accept him as a 1st grader but they will not be compensated for him as a student. Hmmmm? In this economy, doubt they'll be willing to give up $$$. Are bribes out of the question? (LOL)

The private school near us, which is a very nice school, charges more for K than I paid for college at the state U. Plus, "all their kids are gifted!"

Thanks for your responses, everyone! Still trying to figure this one out . . .