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My son's birthday is Oct.20, so he misses the cutoff for kindergarten. The problem is by Sept. he will have completed nursery and pre-k. He goes to a private school is above average academically, potty trainned, interacts very well, and is a well adjusted 4 year old. Also our move is only temporary we will be going back to nyc after 2 years. I don't see that it fair to hold him back because when we return he will be in a different grade and have to make new friends. I have been in touch with the wake school county and know of the test. But the deadline has pasted and by no means do they make it easy. They tell me right off that it is pricey i said fine thats no problem. Second he could not be evaluated in ny it had to be in nc. Which really isn't possible as he is in school and we haven't purchased a home in nc yet. I even was willing to put him in private school to solve the problem. But they wouldn't even hear me out without a snicker, which i thught was rude. I feel like i am being treated unfairly based on where i'm from. My question is can this problem be solved? or worked around somehow? has anyone else faced this hurdle? What are my options? Can anyone steer me in the right direction?
I believe, based on knowledge from friends, that wake county public schools are definitely quite strict about the cut off date, even if it is missed by a day or two. I have one friend who has her child at Thales Academy, which is private (it was started by the same person who started Franklin Academy, which is a charter school in wake forest) and I do not believe they have the same restrictions on the cut off date for kindergarten. The tuition at Thales is reasonable (5000k a year) in comparison to other private schools in the area. It is a new school, opened a year or two ago I believe, and is still relatively small. They have a campus in Apex and one in Wake Forest. Their website is: http://www.thalesacademy.org
I have heard very good things about the school.........
Talk to your preschool teacher and / or director and explain the situation is see if they recommend you trying to get him into kindergarten. I know I really valued my daughter's preschool teacher's advice when I made the decision (she's a September birthday). Also, red shirting is very common these days and I've found that it's not unusual to have children turn 7 in the second half of kindergarten.
But they wouldn't even hear me out without a snicker, which i thught was rude. I feel like i am being treated unfairly based on where i'm from.
I don't think it's where your from that is causing the problem. The NC cut-off date for Kindy has been Oct 15 in the past, and starting with this upcoming '09-'10 year, it is now August 31. So, there are 6 weeks worth of kids who are missing the cut-off this year that would have gotten in last year. Add this to the folks who are also looking for ways to get their Nov & Dec b-day kids into Kindy, and there are tons of parents in your situation, this year especially due to the change in cut-off date.
I do sympathize- we're lucky that my child barely squeaks in this year with a mid-July birthday or I'd be in the same position as you. I will say that almost EVERYONE I know with kids with Sept, Oct, Nov, and even Dec birthdays are searching for the same solution as you as to where to send their child next year and how to try and test them into Kindy.
The snickers you are hearing from the people you are talking to on the phone are probably doing so because every day they have the same conversation with tons of other parents in the same position as you.
Sorry I cannot offer any constructive advice, but trust me, you are not alone!
Look for a private school....most of the private schools used Dec. 1st for the cut-off date.
???? Most of the private schools we considered were either June 1 or end of summer.
I totally agree with jill7930 on this. You might feel like you're in a special situation, but basically you really want your child in K even though he doesn't qualify. There are MANY parents feel the same way, though perhaps have different reasons for wanting the exception. They no doubt field this question/request on a regular basis and every parent is probably just as convinced as you, that THEIR child should get the exception.
My daughter is in Kindergarten this year. Her birthday is 8/24. She started when she was 4! I was pretty confident that sending her was the right thing to do rather than holding her back, but now I'm not so sure. Kindergarten is WAAY different than preschool or pre-k. The trend these days is to hold back the kids with the late birthdays therefore sending one that is young & makes the cutoff makes for such a wide range of ages in the class. She might be normal for her age, but mixed in with 6 almost 7 year olds she's behind. It's a tough situation.
I would be thankful if my kid missed the cutoff then the decision would already be made.
My son's birthday is Oct.20, so he misses the cutoff for kindergarten. The problem is by Sept. he will have completed nursery and pre-k. He goes to a private school is above average academically, potty trainned, interacts very well, and is a well adjusted 4 year old. Also our move is only temporary we will be going back to nyc after 2 years. I don't see that it fair to hold him back because when we return he will be in a different grade and have to make new friends. I have been in touch with the wake school county and know of the test. But the deadline has pasted and by no means do they make it easy. They tell me right off that it is pricey i said fine thats no problem. Second he could not be evaluated in ny it had to be in nc. Which really isn't possible as he is in school and we haven't purchased a home in nc yet. I even was willing to put him in private school to solve the problem. But they wouldn't even hear me out without a snicker, which i thught was rude. I feel like i am being treated unfairly based on where i'm from. My question is can this problem be solved? or worked around somehow? has anyone else faced this hurdle? What are my options? Can anyone steer me in the right direction?
As others have noted this is a statewide policy. The General Assembly made this change in 2007. It goes into effect next year. The old cut off date was October 16th so your son would have missed that as well. I would look for a school that offers a Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program. That would be your best bet.
I second the idea of finding a Transitional Kindergarten program. My kids are Nov, Oct and Oct birthdays - so we are in the same boat with all three. My oldest went through a transitional kindergarten program and it prepared her beautifully for kindergarten. And she had already been through one year of preschool, and one year of pre-K before TK. I know you want your son to start kindergarten next year but I will tell you that my Nov birthday child has a ton of confidence because she's on the older side in class. When I help out in the classroom, I can tell the younger kids from the older ones right away. Please try not to stress out about him being on the older side when he starts, he will certainly be at an advantage. Every single teacher or principal has told me the same thing. If this is your first child, I think you will be surprised at how difficult kindergarten is nowdays....I know it may sound silly but when we were little, it was nothing like it is now. There is a lot expected out of these kids, and why not think about it positively - your son will have another full year to mature and learn and he'll do even better when he's starts kindergarten.
OP, since you are going back to NYC in two years, perhaps you could homeschool your son for K and 1st, then enroll him in 2nd when you get back to NY? I understand you wanting him to stay on track with his peers that he will return to.
I really think these early cut-off dates are silly. If I lived in this area, three of my five kids would have been held back a year. Where I live (we didn't get to move to NC) the cut-off is simply Dec 31. My kiddos who entered K at 4 have thrived. I agree with parents deciding to hold back-if the parents think the child's not ready-but I don't get the early, nonflexible cutoff.
My oldest son is a junior in HS-he has a Dec birthday, so he's just now 16. His only issue with being so 'young?' He can't drive himself to school yet, LOL. Other than that, he's in the National Honor Society, Student Council VP and other activities. Ironically, my only child who had a slightly rough start in K was my child who was born in March! Just a late bloomer, who caught up just fine in time.
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