Olentangy’s limited all-day everyday kindergarten program is designed to provide additional academic and social assistance to approximately 300 students most in need of these services. Students were invited to join the program based on their performance on the screenings administered during kindergarten registration appointments.
Get the Facts
Kindergarten
Currently most of Olentangy’s elementary schools operate from 9:05 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. The exceptions are Alum Creek, Indian Springs, Oak Creek and Scioto Ridge, which begin at 8:50 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. It is possible that these times may change slightly by the 2012-13 school year because Olentangy carefully examines all school times each year to ensure the most efficient transportation schedule.
The YMCA has a before-school and after-school care program called the Y-Club at each of Olentangy’s elementary schools. Morning care begins at 7 a.m. and after care ends at 6 p.m. Click here for more information on the program.
Olentangy does not offer transportation to and from daycare centers. However, many local daycare providers offer their own transportation. If you are interested in this option, it is best to contact the daycare providers in your neighborhood to see if they offer this service.
All Olentangy residents are welcome to apply for an intradistrict transfer. Parents can learn more about this process by clicking here or by asking the New Student Welcome Center staff during the registration process.
State lawmakers recently repealed the mandate to provide all-day everyday kindergarten. However, since Olentangy’s kindergarten registration process began in January, the district will honor its commitment to offer a limited all-day everyday kindergarten program in 2011-12. Eliminating the program could be one small step toward offsetting the drastic loss of state funding in the current budget proposal. The district is also looking into the option of charging tuition for the program, but finding enough classroom space in this quickly growing district may make that option impractical. At this point a final decision with regard to an all-day, everyday kindergarten program has not been made. We continue to monitor legislative decisions that impact school finance and examine all options as they relate to long-term planning for our district.
Parents will be notified whether their kindergarten student is on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday or a Tuesday/Thursday/Friday schedule in late June or early July. Creating these schedules is a complicated process that involves staff members from the student’s building and several departments within the district. The process begins when the New Student Welcome Center is able to gather all of the student information collected during the four-month-long kindergarten registration process. After that information has been vetted and verified, it is passed on to the transportation department. Transportation workers sort the data in order to create balanced ridership numbers. This information is then sent on to each elementary building for verification. Once the building staff has made any necessary changes, the schedules are finalized and parents are notified whether their student will be on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Friday schedule. More details about bus routes and stops will be available for parents in late July.
The vast majority of students entering kindergarten for any given year will be between the ages of 5 and 6. Here is the age range for current kindergartners as of September 1, 2010:
- Age 5 or younger: 3.9 percent
- Age 5 to 5.5: 38.8 percent
- Age 5.5 to 6: 43.8 percent
- Age 6 to 6.5: 12.5 percent
- Age 6.5 or older: 0.9 percent
State law allows students to start kindergarten if they will be five years old or older by September 30 of that school year. However, the law doesn’t require parents to send their children to school until they are six years old, thus building in room for parents to make an informed judgment about the best age for their child to begin kindergarten.