Registering Children for School
Children who will be 5 years old by September 30 of a given year are eligible to enter kindergarten. By the previous March, families should determine the school that their child will attend and contact the school to make arrangements for enrollment. Families will need to fill out forms in order to register their child for school.
Register your children for school.
To find the name of the elementary school assigned to your home, visit the FCPS boundary locator service.
School Support for Incoming Kindergarten Children
There are many steps that children and families must take to get ready for kindergarten. At the same time, it is important that kindergarten teachers, other staff and school administrators are ready to receive young children and families coming to the school for the first time. Specifically, ready schools will:
- Work to establish effective relationships with parents, family child care providers and other early care and education programs to share children's pre-kindergarten experiences.
- Facilitate smooth transitions between home and school.
- Be prepared to support the individual needs of all children.
- Provide children with quality instruction and interactions.
- Kindergarten Orientation is the time when children and their families come together as a group to meet the school staff, learn about their expectations for your child and find out what a typical school day is like. These orientations are usually scheduled between mid-March and the end of June. To learn more about kindergarten and kindergarten orientation search the Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) website.
- Keep in Touch (KIT) Basic service is used by FCPS to communicate emergency, delayed opening and school closing information, attendance and outreach messages. Families with rising kindergarteners who are interested in receiving announcements from their child's future school can subscribe to this service.
Encouraging Smooth Transitions
Entering kindergarten is a major transition for children and families. Establishing relationships between families and teachers well before the start of school can help create a smoother transition for young children. Additional strategies that support a smooth transition to kindergarten include:
- Principals and kindergarten teachers visiting early childhood programs in the community to meet children before they come to kindergarten. This supports realistic expectations of children's skills and abilities and allows children to become familiar with adults at their future school.
- Early childhood professionals visiting local elementary schools to observe kindergarten classrooms and school environments.
- Elementary schools inviting families with rising kindergarteners to attend school events before their children are enrolled. This helps families become familiar with the school and school-based community activities.
- Learning about available community and school resources by attending kindergarten orientations and registration programs. Schools notify the community about orientation dates and times through their school's page on the FCPS website.