Kindergarten Entry Age Change

Effective as of fall 2024, children must turn five on or before September 1 of the school year to be eligible to enroll in public school Kindergarten. This is the second year since the CT State Law was changed from the previous eligibility date of January 1st.

The legislation also provides a provision for a school district to admit a child who has not turned five by September 1 and will turn five by January 1st of the school year if (1) the parent makes a request in writing and (2) the school district conducts an assessment of the child to ensure that admitting such child is developmentally appropriate. See Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section below for further details on this request and assessment process. Please note that early entrance will be by exception only.

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CT is one of the last states in the U.S. to make a change to a September 1st birthdate for Kindergarten entry. National longitudinal studies and our review of local longitudinal assessment data indicate that students who begin Kindergarten at 5 years old in September have statistically stronger performance than students who enter Kindergarten at age four.

A review of West Hartford third grade literacy and mathematics data demonstrate the same findings (see graphs below). On average, 7-year old "ber babies" (early Kindergarten students born in September, October, November and December) underperform by 12 points in literacy and 14 points in mathematics compared to their grade level peers. When comparing to students with birthdays in the same months who wait until age five to attend Kindergarten, these differences increase by 4 points to 16 and 18 point gaps, respectively.

If your child is age eligible (turning 5 years old on or before September 1, 2025), you may begin kindergarten registration on February 3, 2025 by going to www.whps.org/residency. (Registration attempts prior to that date will not be accepted.)

Please join us for more information on the transition to Kindergarten on Monday, January 27, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall auditorium. If you cannot attend please see the slide deck from our January 27th slideshow (available here after 1/28/25).

If you have a child born between September 2, 2020 and January 1, 2021 and do not wish to request early Kindergarten enrollment for Fall 2025, no action is needed. Registration for Fall 2026 Kindergarten entry will take place in Spring of 2026.

If you have a child born between September 2, 2020 and January 1, 2021 and would like your child to be considered for early Kindergarten enrollment in Fall 2025, please note the following steps parents/guardians must complete:

• The deadline for written requests to be considered for early entry to kindergarten is February 1, 2025. All parents/guardians must submit the Request for Early Kindergarten Entrance Form. They will also be asked to complete a Parent Questionnaire (parent questionnaires will be completed at the time of the assessment visit) and have their child's Pre-K or Childcare Provider complete a Teacher Questionnaire (as applicable). All teacher questionnaires must be returned on or before your child's scheduled assessment visit.
• As a provision of the state law, an in-person assessment is required for all students requesting early entrance to kindergarten. These will be available by appointment during the month of February 2025.
• It is important to note the following:
• Children must meet or exceed kindergarten readiness benchmarks in numeracy, literacy, motor, social, and language skills to be granted early admittance to Kindergarten.
• This will be a determination, not a recommendation.
• Early entrance to Kindergarten will be by exception.
• Children will not be assessed more than one time.
• Parents of children who engage in the February early entry assessment process will be notified of the district early entrance decision on or before February 28, 2025.
• Please note: If you move to West Hartford after February 1, 2025 and would like to access the early entry assessment process, please request early entry via this link AND call Rosana Walshaw at 860-561-6658 for more information. We will host additional early entry assessment sessions in late May.

Parents/guardians of children born after September 1, 2020 should NOT initiate registration for Kindergarten until they have received a final decision from the School District.

We anticipate that students born between September 2, 2020 and January 1, 2021 who currently attend our West Hartford Public Schools Pre-K program at Charter Oak, Smith, and Webster Hill School or the ELC program at Whiting Lane and Aiken, will continue in a district Pre-K program.

Our Early Learning Center (ELC) Program at Aiken and Whiting Lane will continue to provide services to all children who have individualized education plans (IEPs) from age 3 until Kindergarten entry date in accordance with CT Kindergarten entry age criteria.

No, we do not anticipate having the additional space available in our schools to expand our current full-day Pre-K offerings at Charter Oak, Smith and Webster Hill Schools.

Questions about the CT Kindergarten entry age legislation? Contact Melissa Behrens, Director of Elementary Education, at Melissa_Behrens@whps.org.

Questions about the West Hartford Public Schools Kindergarten registration process? Contact Irene Garneau, Department Supervisor for Early Childhood Education, at Irene_Garneau@whps.org.