It’s Not too Early to Register Your Child for Kindergarten

Sure, it’s only March 1, but it’s never too early to register your child for kindergarten.

KGVO reached out to MCPS Communications Director Tyler Christensen for details.

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“I know the next school year feels like a long time away, but the earlier we can begin planning our kindergarten classes and know how many kindergarten classes are needed in the schools and how many teachers and all of those things, the better,” said Christensen. “The first round of registration just opened March 1, and we will continue it until May 1.”

Christensen said the earlier the better for a child’s first exposure to public school.

“We will continue accepting registrations after that time, but this first initial round really is important for getting kindergarten families connected with their neighborhood schools,” she said. “That way they can be included in all communications over the summer and know when fun events are happening at their school to get their kindergartner used to their neighborhood school.”

Christensen provided the basic information that parents will need to successfully register their new kindergartner.

“Well, the first thing a parent will want to do is to get a hold of our registration packet,” she said. “Those are available on the MCPS website and also available at the school. In addition to that information, they'll want to have their child's immunization records, and a form of address verification just so we can make sure that they're at the right school for the attendance boundary.”

Christensen said the schools make every effort to make sure that first contact with public education is a positive experience.

“The first big experience that the elementary schools will be offering to incoming kindergarteners will be ‘kindergarten round-up’ events starting in mid May, and we'll share more information about that,” she said. “That’s a great chance for the students to come into the schools for the first time if they haven't ever visited before. They can get to know the staff, see the classrooms and other important things like where the bathrooms are.”

Missoula’s elementary schools include Chief Charlo, Russell, Lewis and Clark, Paxson, Jeannette Rankin, Franklin, Hawthorne, Lowell and Rattlesnake.