Solana Beach School District to offer Transitional Kindergarten

The Solana Beach School District will offer Transitional Kindergarten beginning in the 2012-13 school year. Currently, students are admitted to kindergarten if they will be age 5 on or before Dec. 2. State Education Code 48000[a] changes that admission requirement from Dec. 2 to Nov. 1 for the 2012-13 school year, Oct. 1 for the 2013-14 school year, and Sept. 1 for the 2014-15 school year and each school year thereafter.

This change in the Education Code has created the Transitional Kindergarten program, marking the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students born between Nov. 2 and Dec. 2. Students who take part learn oral language development, pre-literacy skills, early math skills, large and small motor skills, development and enhancement of appropriate social and emotional skills, and self-regulation skills that promote success in school.

Kindergarten is not required in California. Many parents of younger kindergarten-age children choose to enroll a year later. This decision often means making a choice between keeping the child home another year or enrolling in a pre-school program. The district always encourages families to carefully consider giving children born in September and October additional time. Another year of pre-school can greatly benefit children not yet 5, providing time to gain maturity, independence, and self-confidence.

The Solana Beach School District’s Child Development Center offers a fee-based preschool for children from 18 months to pre-kindergarten. Also, next fall, the district’s Child Development Center will offer a fee-based Pre-K Plus program to accommodate students that may need a more developmental program rather than the increased rigor of transitional kindergarten curriculum. You can learn more about this program at www.sbsd.net.

If your child was born in October and would like to be on a space-available waiting list of Transitional Kindergarten, please contact the secretary at your school.