Acceleration Process Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten

In keeping with the law, students in the Evergreen School District are placed where they are age-appropriate. Generally, this means that children who turn five (5) years old before September 1 of a school year will be admitted to kindergarten. If a child would turn five (5) years old between September 2 and December 2 of a school year, they will be placed in transitional kindergarten. In extremely rare circumstances, a teacher may recommend a student enrolled in transitional kindergarten for acceleration into kindergarten when exceptional ability is evident. Students who are candidates for acceleration must demonstrate very superior intelligence and social emotional capabilities to meet the advanced demands of a placement with older students. It is both our observation and experience that very few children meet the requirements for acceleration.

Parents or Guardians who believe that acceleration to kindergarten is warranted for their child must provide a signed letter which clearly requests the acceleration of their child’s placement from transitional kindergarten to kindergarten at a school of the District. This request needs to be submitted to the Principal’s office of your child’s school. Only physical copies will be accepted.

Process and Timeline

1. Upon or after a student’s fifth birthday, a parent may submit a signed letter to the school principal requesting their child be evaluated for acceleration.
2. Upon receipt of the signed letter, District staff and the student’s teacher will observe the student’s social, emotional, and academic abilities to make initial findings.
3. Within four (4) weeks of receipt of the letter or the start of school (whichever is later) the parent, teacher, principal, and other personnel as needed will arrange a meeting to discuss any initial findings as well as the advantages and disadvantages of acceleration. (see Considerations below)
4. If initial findings by the District support further evaluation for acceleration of the student, the student will be assessed (within four (4) weeks of the initial findings) by the school psychologist for determination of general mental ability and achievement levels, using norm-referenced, standardized tests.
5. To demonstrate exceptional ability and thus be considered an appropriate candidate for acceleration, students must score at the 98th percentile in all areas of the norm-referenced, standardized tests.*
6. Following the administration and scoring of the norm-referenced, standardized tests, a student study team (SST) meeting will be held with parents, teacher, principal, and other personnel as needed to determine the appropriate placement.

If, after the SST meeting, the District, along with the Parent(s) or Guardian(s), find that acceleration from the standard age-appropriate grade is in the best interest of the student, the District will confirm the determination with the Parent(s) or Guardian(s), and the student will be accelerated to the subsequent grade level.

*It is the District’s professional expertise and experience, that students performing at or above the 98th percentile will be academically successful in an accelerated classroom setting.

Considerations

Young children may feel stress as they try to achieve academic expectations and relate to older children. When considering a child for acceleration, information gathered to make the determination must be sufficient and may include academic performance, student score reports, work samples, observations, checklist of skills, comparison with age appropriate students in the accelerated grade, district identified assessments and interviews of the child and relevant adults, and observations of the child. Staff will consider the student's academic readiness, emotional maturity level, peer relations and interactions with adults and other children.

If parents have questions about this process, they are advised to speak with their school principal. If questions remain, please contact Director of Educational Services, Kim Kianidehkian at kkianidehkian@eesd.org. If questions remain, parents may reach out to Assistant Superintendent Debbie Ashmore at dashmore@eesd.org. If questions remain after speaking with Assistant Superintendent Ashmore, parents may reach out to Superintendent Dr. Antoine Hawkins at ahawkins@eesd.org.