School cut-off date (St. Louis, Affton, Manchester: renting, transfer, safest area)

[yananma]

My daughter has a September birthday, which will make her miss the August 1 cut-off date and wait another year before starting in Kindergarden. We live in Parkway school district. Anyone knows what I can do to get her enrolled? Thank you.

[TGS]

Parkway won't take her this year. We had the same problem. Check out some of the local private schools. I know that St. Ambrose on the Hill in the city off I-44 will take kids a year early if they are mature for their age.

[CellarBelle]

I know I'm crossing parenting lines, but from someone that pushed enrolling her child early... I encourage you to reconsider. We thought it was a great idea because our kid was "ahead of the game" academically, articulate and mature. It was a nightmare first year that I could never have forseen. After several successful years of preschool with no separation issues and lots of confidence, I suddenly had the "crying Kindergartner". Whoa! Serious shock for us! The large number of kids and long days were a huge change from preschool. When we moved, we took the opportunity to correct the mistake by "starting over", and it was the best parenting decision we made (to counteract the bad one we made previously). I talked with many high school parents that pushed their kids into school early, and everyone of them told me they had wished they had not done it. I then spoke with parents that held their kids back, and they were all very thankful they had made the decision. Our "first" kindergarten teacher was one of the parents that had much regret about starting her child too early. Wow! That spoke volumes to me when she told me that. My child has never been bored in school since "starting over", which was our big fear when we pushed for early enrollment. And... think of it this way... you will have your kiddo under your wing one more year if you do not rush school. That is one more year to shape, mold and influence. Our society works real hard to grow children up as fast as they can, I say hang onto what you can of their childhood. You can always find a good Montessori school to provide some new challenges if your child is bored with preschool. Just a thought. Good luck and I hope whatever decision you make works out well for you and your daughter!

[21mm397]

Here in Georgia the cut-off age for starting kindergarten is September 1st and the school year starts in early august. My daughter's birthday is August 18th. She will be turning six. She has been through Pre-K and Kindergarten here in Georgia, and is now currently in first grade. My question is, because her birthday after the August 1st deadline for many school districts, will she have to repeat Kindergarten, or will she be transferred right into 1st grade? I called both Affton and Bayless school districts, and they assured me that she would remain in her current grade. Does anyone know if this generally true in most other area districts?
Chuck

[SeanD]

This is a little off topic now, but we hav e a 4 year old and live in Oklahoma right now and she is starting the Pre-K program. It is basically the Kindergarten from back in the day when I was young. I have talked to make parents that have sent their other kids through this and have had nothing but great comments. Children in the US have needed to start school earlier for a long time now, it does nothing but help. If yor child can not handle it I then don't send them, but too many times it is the parents that can not handle it.

Anyway..good luck with school.

[yananma]

Thx for the thought.

I don't think it is fair to put my daugther one year behind since she could start school if we live in other states! Plus, a couple of months difference down the road won't be any difference at all! But Parkway school is so strict about the age cut-off! Unbelieveable.

Anyone living in the area of 63021 can recommend a good private school that can judge enrollment on a case by case basis? Thx.

[TGS]

Originally Posted by yananma

Thx for the thought.

I don't think it is fair to put my daugther one year behind since she could start school if we live in other states! Plus, a couple of months difference down the road won't be any difference at all! But Parkway school is so strict about the age cut-off! Unbelieveable.

Anyone living in the area of 63021 can recommend a good private school that can judge enrollment on a case by case basis? Thx.

The only one I know of is St. Ambrose. It isn't all that close, but it does have other students from the Manchester area. It has a lot of good programs... Italian classes at all ages, great sports programs, band, art, etc. Aftercare is provided on site.

If you are worried about St. Ambrose being in the city, it is located on The Hill, which is regarded as the safest area in St. Louis.

[KCLucymom]

Are you looking for private secular, Catholic, Christian, etc. My kids are going to Victory Christian School in Affton. It's 20 min from your area.

[Missmo]

Just another two cents...

My oldest daughter started Kindergarten at age 4 in NY--their cutoff is December--she has an Oct. birthday. She, too, was very bright (is, in fact, gifted) and seemed ready to go. We moved to Pennsylvania in the midst of her kindergarten year--in PA, the cutoff is Sept.

About 3rd grade, the age difference began to show. Most kids in her class are nearly a full year older than her and socially it really showed and turned out to be really negative for her.

Our third child is also an October birthday, and we waited to send her until this year. She will turn 6 right after school starts. We feel much better about this.

After all, now I"m going to be sending the oldest out into the world and off to college when she's 17!!! What were we thinking?