Cut-Off Date Nightmares - Alpharetta (Marietta: transfer, preschool, live)

[myboyiscool]

People whose kids are born in September might share the pain i am going through.
Here's my agony, my son who turned three this september started going to pre-school and we started feeling the heat of cut-off dates right there. His birthdate falls just after a day of deadly cut-off date of 1st September. His school admitted him first but later asked us to change the class to 2 years olds. I am not really too concerned about pre-school right, but would like to save his year once he starts to go to 1st Grade at the age of 5.
Just because he was born on 2nd September he will miss entire year.
Is there anyway, I can avoid wasting his one year in North fulton county?
Any ideas/help will be greatly appreciated.

[Zimbochick]

Originally Posted by myboyiscool

People whose kids are born in September might share the pain i am going through.
Here's my agony, my son who turned three this september started going to pre-school and we started feeling the heat of cut-off dates right there. His birthdate falls just after a day of deadly cut-off date of 1st September. His school admitted him first but later asked us to change the class to 2 years olds. I am not really too concerned about pre-school right, but would like to save his year once he starts to go to 1st Grade at the age of 5.
Just because he was born on 2nd September he will miss entire year.
Is there anyway, I can avoid wasting his one year in North fulton county?
Any ideas/help will be greatly appreciated.

You don't mention if you have other children or not, so I'm not sure what your experience is with elementary schools here. I have lived all over, and the tendency in the area we live, NE Cobb/Marietta is to send children to school a little on the older side. Other parts of the country the opposite is definitely true. My point being, as a boy, if your son went to school at 4/5 he would more than likely be significantly younger than the other boys. My son has a August 28th birthday, and on the advice of the pre-k teachers we kept him back, which as it turned out was probably for the best. They suggested he was not socially ready. He has thrived at school since then. I assumed he would be very much older than everyone else in his year, but in every class he has been in, he is right in the middle of the boys age wise. My son has a friend who is exactly a year younger than him, and has always been the smallest boy in the class, that brings with it another factor to consider. For girls this seems less of an issue. I'm not sure if Fulton allows "testing in" for age, I know Cobb does, but it very complex, and all the children I have heard of who have attempted it have not succeeded. Sorry I didn't answer your question specifically about Fulton, I'm sure someone will have more useful info. Good luck!

[midgeorgiaman]

Most Georgia districts require your child to be 5 before sept 1 for Kindergarten AND 6 before Sept 1 for first grade. I have seen more than one child get around this, but it required private school. Private schools are not required to follow these age guidelines. After first grade, a child who transfers into public school will go into the grade that they were in at the departing school. An option for you if your child is truly ready when the time comes. I realize this is an expensive method, but it works. Call your child's zoned school and ask them if an incoming second grader's birthday matters....Something to think about.

[lastminutemom]

Actually, for boys it is of tremendous value for them to be the oldest not the youngest. Most reputable private schools have birthday cut offs of mid summer for boys (and sometimes girls.)

If you insist on pushing him ahead then you can fully expect that he will be the youngest every year sometimes by as much as 15 or 16 months. (Because people hold their children back with summer birthdays.)

There is a lot to be said for being oldest in the class.

I have a boy with a September birthday and I am so glad he benefits from being the oldest. I know almost no educators who have boys with summer birthdays who don't hold them back.

It won't be a wasted year. He is 2, he is in the two year old class. Look for a preschool program that does "young" classes (for example, in such a program he would be in a young 3s class this year).

But be grateful for the extra year.