Southlake Carroll School Kindergarten (credit, home, school districts) - Dallas - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

Julia1997 · 01-03-2010, 02:32 PM

Hello,
Hope that I could find some information about Southlake Carroll School District. We are European family moving this summer. Our children will be in 3rd grade and son Kindergarten. We have decided to hold our son back. And did not send him to Kindergarten this year. He was tested by our current school district and was recommended not to attend kindergarten. Are children hold back in TX as well? Is it a standard process? I was happy to see that a lot of boys in our current school district were hold back. With the move I am worried that the Southlake Carroll School will try to force us to send our son directly to 1st grade. He had a significant speech delay due to being bilingual. But is ready now for kindergarten and looking forward to it. In terms of different elementary schools. Do any of the Southlake Carroll elementary schools have better or different reputation than others?

Any recommendations for summer camps for August in Southlake? Definitely looking for camps with swimming. Also we are a big sport family. Our daughter (will be in 3rd grade) does club soccer and basketball.

FarNorthDallas · 01-03-2010, 02:52 PM

It's the parents' decision whether to hold back or not and plenty of kids are held back, especially summer birthdate boys. The cut off date here is Sept. 1.

Julia1997 · 01-03-2010, 02:57 PM

Thanks.

lynnsl · 01-03-2010, 05:13 PM

In our research, here are some findings:

- As said, it is your choice to hold back. Our son is an April birthday, so was on the edge of whether to hold back or not. We are not holding him back afterall, but it was definitely a choice.
- All of the Carroll ISD elementary schools really seem great. Rockenbaugh has the very best reputation amongst them, but they are all good for different reasons it seems. Johnson is the oldest, with some teachers that have been there forever, but its also the largest/crowdest (tradeoff).
Our conclusion is that to try to compare the Carroll ISD or HPISD schools was splitting hairs...they are all great.

Julia1997 · 01-03-2010, 06:55 PM

Great thanks. Our son is also in April but was not ready last year. We actually put him to private kindergarten. But told the teacher not to pressure him in the class room. I am from a country where most boys start school at 7 years old. So I believe to hold children back if they are not ready is the solution.

frogandtoad · 01-03-2010, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lynnsl

In our research, here are some findings:

- As said, it is your choice to hold back. Our son is an April birthday, so was on the edge of whether to hold back or not. We are not holding him back afterall, but it was definitely a choice.

I am confused here. Why would April be on the edge of holding a child back? Is that just something different in TX? In both states I've lived w/kids, only August babies are started a year late unless they are seriously delayed (in which case maybe a July baby, but I've never heard of anything before that..). Is that just totally different in TX??

Julia1997 · 01-03-2010, 08:28 PM

Hello,
In our school district most of boys born June and later are hold back. We even have a transitional kindergarten for these children. Our son born in April will be older. But I think few months is not a big problem.

lynnsl · 01-04-2010, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frogandtoad

I am confused here. Why would April be on the edge of holding a child back? Is that just something different in TX? In both states I've lived w/kids, only August babies are started a year late unless they are seriously delayed (in which case maybe a July baby, but I've never heard of anything before that..). Is that just totally different in TX??

May just be a personal thing. As I said, we ended up NOT holding him back...usually more something that is done with June birthdays. But in the case of some of the private schools, the programs in K or 1st are quite rigorous...so for some boys in particular, they may just not be mature enough, even an April/May birthday...since they end up spending some period of time being 5 yrs old with kids that are almost 7 yrs old in some case...

FarNorthDallas · 01-04-2010, 06:44 AM

Used to be just summer babies are held back, but it is getting pushed back to January. Some of the private schools hold back to January and others have an additional grade between kinder and 1st as another way to add a year in there for kids who need it in order to be academically competitive.

momof2dfw · 01-04-2010, 03:08 PM

~~~shaking my head~~~
I have never understood holding kids back and especially "boys".

Do boys brains mature that much slower than girls? I've never known a boy that had even an August birthday that was not held back that has done poorly in school. As a matter of fact my daughter that has been in the gifted program since kindergarten had several boys in her class that had summer birthdays that did just fine and are still tops in their class after all of these years. Several close friends have sons with summer birthdays and they all started school "on time" and have finished in the top of their class.

All this does is make the boys a year or two OLDER than the girls they are in school with. Personally, if my teenage daughter came home w/ a boy 2 years older than her but in the same grade I'd have to question someone. For one he is MUCH further along in the, em, "developmental" area sexually and such. I would have a problem with it. Personally, you need to think LONG TERM about the childs life as they go on thru school and not just kindergarten.

Btw, another reason why SOME school districts are very happy to hold boys back is because they want a BIG OLDER FOOTBALL TEAM! They might not say it upfront but trust me..... IT IS THERE! They know that a 19 year old high school senior is going to be a lot stronger on the athletic field vs one that is 17-18. Personally, I think UIL should step in and stop this and just because a parent THOUGHT that their 5 year old was not ready for kindergarten they are still eligible to play as a senior because they were "delayed". The rule per UIL is: "are less than 19 years old on September 1 preceding the contest or have been granted eligibility based on a disability that delayed their education by at least one year". These kids are NOT "disabled". They have parents that THINK that their kids is not ready and that is it. You never know till they try.

Besides, kindergarten is not even required so it hurts no one for the kid to go ahead and go on time. If at the end of the year the kid shows they are not ready for 1st grade they can repeat kindergarten. But to just hold a kid back from even starting.......... I am not for at all. Who knows as lil junior could go ahead and start kindergarten on time and might just show to be a very good kid and smarter than his parents give him credit for. Then again, I know of boys that can do work several years ahead of their "age".

Oh, and FYI, if you DO hold your child back and they end up being "gifted" they may not be eligible for the programs. The school districts usually do not allow a child that is OLDER but on the same grade to compete for those spots as it is an unfair advantage to those that are on age for their grade.