Kindergarten Information

Kindergarten Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can I request AM or PM kindergarten?

A. There is no guarantee that your request will be granted. Approvals are based on enrollment and class size. Notification of class session will be mailed in mid-July with Kindergarten assignment letters.  

Q:  When do I sign up my child for Kindergarten?

A:  Each year in March we hold kindergarten registration for the following school year. A majority of this process is now done online. Please visit our district's Central Registration page for more information.

Q: When will I find out if my child is AM or PM?

A: Placement letters are typically mailed late July. If you are a parent of older children, grades 1-5 assignment letters come home in a later mailing toward the middle of August. 

Q: What determines if my child is an AM or PM student?

A: Transportation determines AM and PM placement. We section off areas of our serving area to designate this assignment. Using this system allows us to have all kindergarten students arrive to school and home in a reasonable amount of time.

Q: What time do the AM and PM sessions begin and end?

A: AM Kindergarten – Starts at 9:10 AM and dismisses at 11:45 AM
     PM Kindergarten - Begins at 1:15 PM and dismisses at 3:50 PM

Q: How will my child get to and from school?

A: While you are always free to drop off and pick up your child in accordance with our school day times, Cumberland Valley School District will provide transportation by bus for your child. An adult must be visible for any Kindergarten student to be permitted off the bus. If an adult is not visible, students will return to school on the bus.

Q: What time will the bus pick-up and drop-off my child?

A: Click here to view the bus schedule.

Q: Can I have different stops for my child?

A: Cumberland Valley School District Transportation Policy states – child may have ONE (1) pick-up stop and ONE (1) drop-off stop. These stops may be different locations, but they must be consistent daily. MULTIPLE BUS STOPS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED. If there is a change in drop-off/pick-up locations, please contact our office at 766-4911 as soon as possible.

Q: What if my child will be picked up/dropped off at a sitter?

A: Please contact the school office at 766-4911 and give that information to our office staff. This includes if your “sitter” is the YMCA.

Q: How will my child know where to go on the first day?

A: We would recommend that you attend our “New Family Welcome” and “Kindergarten Open House” events. The dates and times of these events will be sent in your Teacher Assignment Letter in late July. In addition to this, your child’s teacher will be out front along with several other staff members to walk all Kindergarten and First Grade students to their classroom throughout the first week of school.

Q: What should we be working on at home to prepare for Kindergarten?

A: Children come in at all areas of readiness and our staff is prepared to meet those needs. However there are a variety of skills that would be beneficial for your child to have experience with starting kindergarten. Most of these skills are the focus of area preschools. Specifically, working on identifying upper and lower case letters as well as the letter sounds is a strong skill to build a future reader. Working with children with a focus on writing and identifying lower case letters should take precedence over upper case as a majority of our language is written in lower case letters. Also counting objects and identifying numbers through ten are the initial stages of number sense. Again, this is not the expectation for entering Kindergarten, but working on it will help your child build confidence and help prepare them to be successful.

Q: What is the best way to communicate with my child’s teacher?
A:
Most teachers prefer e-mail, as it is the most accessible during the day. Please be sure to give teachers enough time to respond to your e-mail as it may not always be possible during the day. Another option would be leaving a message with the office. Your child’s teacher will normally return calls within 24 hours, but may not always be able to check for messages during the day. You may also send a note in your child’s folder.

Q: What is the procedure if my child will be absent?
A:
State law requires that a written excuse stating the nature of the student’s absence be submitted within 3 school days of the date the student returns to school. All excuses are to include the date, reason for the absence, and must be signed by the parent or guardian. If you know your child will be absent, please call us at 766-4911 and leave a message on the day of the absence. This must be followed up with an absence excuse note within three days of the child's return as stated above.

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