We would like to invite you to a Kindergarten Information Evening on Tuesday, June 6^th at 6:30 PM at the Swampscott Middle School in the Little Theater. The evening will be an opportunity to hear about a typical day in your child’s kindergarten day including information regarding the curriculum and schedule. In addition, there will be a panel of specialists from the district in the areas of health, social emotional development, student services and kindergarten readiness to answer any questions.

The following are some updates to the registration process this year:

• Kindergarten school assignment letters will be mailed on or before August 15^thto allow for balanced class sizes in the district. Please note that siblings are placed at the same school unless there is an individual need for specialized district programming.
• Kindergarten screening will occur during the first three days of school, Tuesday, August 29^ththrough August 31^st with the first FULL day of school Tuesday, September 5^th.  Special Education laws require that all children be screened upon entrance into kindergarten.  The screening is a non-intensive scan of your child’s learning skills and abilities and lasts approximately 30 minutes.  The purpose of the screening is to identify any learning issues that may exist which may require further evaluation and/or special education services.

The screening addresses the following developmental areas:  social interaction, visual-motor/adaptive skills, language and cognition, and gross motor/body awareness.  The screening measures how your child learns, not how much he/she has learned.  Vision and Hearing screenings will occur during the first month of school.

Kindergarten teachers feel the screening is a critical opportunity for the teachers to get to know each child and to make balanced classes for the school year in areas of learning and social emotional development.  A balanced class will allow for a successful transition into kindergarten and an optimal learning environment for each child as they embark on their educational journey in the Swampscott Public Schools.

We look forward to meeting each and every one of Swampscott’s entering kindergarten class in the fall. We look forward to meeting parents at the Kindergarten Information Night June 6^th at 6:30PM in the Little Teacher at the Swampscott Middle School.

In the meantime, if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to call Martha Raymond, Director of Student Services.