Welcome to Kindergarten

By Colonial School District School Board Policy, children entering kindergarten must be five (5) years of age by Sept. 15 of the new school year. 

Wonderspring Early Education offers before-and-after-school quality childcare. To register, contact Wonderspring at 610-828-1785 or visit them online.

To register your child, you must submit an online registration form, which can be found on our registration page. Please take a look at the different forms that are required before starting your online registration, so that you have all of your materials ready for upload. If you have questions about the registration process, you may contact our registrar at 610-834-1670, ext. 2150.

Start time: 9:05 a.m.
Dismissal time: 3:35 p.m.

The additional instruction time in a full-day kindergarten setting allows children and teachers time to explore topics in depth, reduces the ratio of transition time to class time, provides for greater continuity of day-to-day activities, and provides an environment that favors a more developmentally appropriate approach to the curriculum.

Parents are urged to check the activities calendar (mailed each August), the website, and the app for holidays and early dismissal dates.

The Food & Nutrition Services Department offers a variety of nutritious hot and cold breakfast items and hot and cold lunch options daily. All food is prepared fresh on site by a team of professionals led by a certified food safety handler, and menus are analyzed for nutritional content by a registered dietitian. A meal includes a protein, grain, fruit, vegetable, and an eight-ounce serving of milk. In addition to the meals, snacks and other drinks are available at a la carte prices.

Breakfast is free for all students. For lunch, meals are paid for using a point-of-sale system. Parents/guardians are able to pre-deposit money in meal accounts. Each time your child makes a purchase, the money is automatically deducted from the account, so you don’t need to send lunch money every day. You will be alerted when account balances are low. For more detailed information, click here to visit our Food & Nutrition Services webpage.

The Food & Nutrition Service Department participates in the National School Lunch Program. Free or reduced price meals are offered to qualifying families. Application forms are available in the Food Services Office or online at www.schoolcafe.com.

In case of any situation that requires emergency closing of school, announcements will be made via a variety of media, including our automated phone/email/text blast system, local radio and TV stations, the District’s website, and the District Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. We will also send out push notifications through our free Colonial School District app. Users must enable the “School Closure Notification” list in order to receive push notifications.

Please develop a plan with your children to help them understand where they should go if school unexpectedly closes early.

If your child is a bus rider, you will be able to view the bus schedule in your child’s PowerSchool account before the start of school in August. Parents or guardians, designated adults, or siblings are required to meet kindergartners at the bus stop after school. Bus drivers will not release students without family supervision. If your child will need transportation to a location other than your home on a consistent basis, please complete this online form.

Children who are walkers will not be released from the building unless met by a parent, guardian, or designated adult or sibling.

These examinations are required by State law and may be done by your own private physician or dentist, or they may be done by the school’s physician or dentist. Physical examinations must include an eye exam. Necessary forms for examination by your private physician will be provided by the school nurse during registration. Examinations by your own physician and dentist are valid if done within one year prior to entry into school.

A child will not be admitted to school without the following:

• Copy of immunization card
• 4 doses of DTap Vaccine (1 dose on or after 4th birthday)
• 4 doses of Polio Vaccine (4th dose on or after 4th birthday and at least 6 months after previous dose given)
• 2 doses of MMR Vaccine
• 3 doses of Hepatitis B
• 2 doses of Varicella (Chickenpox) or evidence of immunity

A completed immunization record needs to be presented to school by day 5 or the student will be at risk for exclusion on day 6. If possible, please submit proof of immunization prior to the first day of school. Contact the school nurse for assistance.

Accident insurance is available to children if parents/guardians so desire. Information concerning this insurance will be sent home with your child shortly after school starts. Our school nurse will complete the necessary insurance forms should your child be injured in school.

Instruction in kindergarten is focused on developing foundational skills that prepare students for later learning. Language and literacy development encompasses reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In this foundational year, kindergarten teachers embed language and literacy into the daily activities of the classroom. Following a structured literacy framework, students work in whole groups, small groups, and individual settings, where students develop literacy skills by:

• Listening to a variety of stories, poems, and informational books
• Participating in shared reading experiences
• Developing and strengthening their knowledge of letter shapes, names, sounds, and words
• Hearing sounds in words to write sentences to communicate experiences and information they have learned
• Telling and writing stories
• Recognizing rhyming words, and seeing and hearing likenesses and differences between words
• Dramatizing stories
• Interacting with text independently and with others
• Using adaptive literacy software to support speaking, listening, reading, writing, and hearing skills
   

Readiness depends on a child’s maturity. All students are not ready to read at the same time due to individual rates of development. Some indicators of a child’s readiness to read are:

Understanding of book handling:

• Knows front and back of book
• Knows that print carries a message
• Knows where to begin to read on a single page of print

Knowledge of concepts about print:

• Knows the difference between a letter and a word
• Knows most upper case and lower case letters
• Has a beginning sight vocabulary of a few words
   

Children use numbers to count and compare quantities and explore concepts related to:

• Number recognition and sequencing
• Number relationships
• Addition and subtraction

Children participate in engaging, hands-on activities. Through real-world contexts, they are encouraged to think creatively, develop and communicate their own problem-solving strategies, and work cooperatively with their classmates.

Children are curious about the world around them, constantly making observations and exploring. Kindergarten students will investigate phenomena about the natural world in an environment that fosters questioning, reasoning and collaboration with peers. Topics will include the motion of objects and the effect strength or direction has on pushes or pulls. Additionally, they will study how plants and animals grow, take science walks, and observe changes in seasons and weather all by using models, identifying patterns, and noticing cause and effect. Colonial School District’s Science Program is geared to nurture students’ scientific curiosity and instill reasoning in our youngest learners.

Social studies concepts and standards are embedded into students’ reading and writing lessons in kindergarten. The foundation for social studies, economics, history, and the workings of government begin with children’s personal experiences and their initial understanding of themselves in relation to their families, homes, and schools. As their perceptions grow, they further expand this scope to understand how systems work together. Students will be able to use what they learn to help them become productive citizens.

Kindergarten students are immersed in a technology-rich learning environment. Instruction is focused on learning responsible use of technology, computational thinking (such as sequencing and chunking), as well as coding, robotics, and design. Colonial School District is a 1:1 digital environment, where each student is provided with a device. Kindergarteners and first-graders receive Chromebooks to use in the classroom.

All of our schools strive to create a learning environment that fosters openness, acceptance, and an appreciation of culture and identity. We want our schools to be places that are welcoming and that provide students with a sense of belonging.

Kindergarten provides many opportunities for children to grow and fulfill their learning potential. Children feel comfortable taking risks in a safe and supportive learning environment. Emphasis is placed on:

• Communicating thoughts and feelings
• Forming relationships
• Sharing, listening, and cooperating
• Accepting suggestions
• Responsibility and leadership
• Respect, kindness and tolerance
• Independence
• Self-esteem and positive outlook

Children are able to express themselves creatively through the arts. This is achieved through:

• Listening to music
• Singing and dancing
• Playing instruments
• Painting
• Drawing
• Creating with clay and wood

Kindergarten students participate in special weekly classes in art, music, physical education, technology, and library. There are many opportunities for students to learn to appreciate the work of others, as well as to enjoy their own efforts and accomplishments.

Elementary school counselors can help students with their transition to kindergarten. The school counselor understands the unique developmental needs of the elementary student. School counselors are also trained in communication and problem-solving skills. School counselors may do push-in classroom lessons where they introduce themselves and explain their role in the school. Lessons may also cover topics such as friendship skills, worries, sharing and classroom skills. School counselors also serve as a resource for parents on a variety of topics, such as developmental, social, behavioral or academic concerns.

The Pupil Services Department is key to providing programs, services, and resources to the Colonial school community. Pupil Services includes the areas of Special Education, Gifted Education, Counseling, Health Services, Speech and Language, Psychology, Occupational and Physical Therapy, Home and School Visitor, Behavioral Health, and Registration. Our goal is to provide the appropriate supports in order for our students to maximize their learning potential and subsequently achieve at their highest level. Read more about our department here.

Our school nurse will provide first aid in case of an emergency. For all other treatments, parents/guardians are required to log into the SNAP Health Portal in PowerSchool to provide permission for the nurse to treat your child. If necessary, parents/guardians will be notified by the school nurse. If your child needs to be sent home from school for health reasons, a school official will call you for transportation home. For cases like this, please keep the school notified of your latest work, home, and cell phone numbers by keeping them current in your PowerSchool account. List the telephone number of someone who could be contacted in case of an emergency.

Colonial School District places a premium on student safety and security. The District works continuously with many stakeholders (both internally and externally) to ensure its policies, procedures, and safety-related equipment are current and in alignment with federal, state, and local recommendations and requirements. The District continually assesses its safety and security measures to maintain its place as a national leader in school safety and security. Visit our Safety page to learn more about procedures and protocols that are in place.

Volunteers are valuable members of our school community. Through the donation of your time and talents, you help us to provide the tools, knowledge, and resources our students need to succeed in and out of the classroom. To volunteer, Pennsylvania law requires the completion of volunteer clearances. Please visit our webpage for information on what is required and for instructions on how to submit your clearances online. 

• Talk about kindergarten as a friendly, happy place.
• Label all of your child’s belongings, including clothing, water bottles, lunch boxes, school bags, coats, mittens, and hats.
• Dress your child in comfortable clothing and sneakers or closed-toed shoes for safe play at recess.
• Provide a book bag or backpack large enough to hold a 9x12 folder, water bottle, lunch box, and a school-issued iPad.
• If your child will be a bus rider, discuss the importance of remaining seated on the bus and listening to the driver.

Teach your child how to:

• Recite full name, address, and phone number.
• Take off and put on a coat (even if the sleeves are inside out).
• Use the bathroom independently.
• Wash hands independently.
• Use a tissue to blow their nose independently.
• Cover coughs and sneezes with their elbow.
• Fasten shoelaces, zippers, and buttons.
• Open and close lunch food and snack containers.

In addition to staying in touch with your child’s teacher, we encourage you to take steps to stay connected to your child’s school and the district as a whole. Please be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date in PowerSchool, which is our student information system. Information supplied here is used when we send out communication via email, phone, text, or mail. Here are some other ways to stay connected to what’s going on:

• Tour our website for the calendar, menus, handbooks, attendance reporting information, and news and updates
• Download our free app from the App Store or Google Play to follow your child’s school news and receive push notifications
• Follow Colonial School District on Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and Instagram
• Read the E-Friday Folder sent each week from your child’s school
• Follow CITV on YouTube for videos and other programming
• Attend your child’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings
• Follow your child’s PTO social media accounts (please note these are not run by the District)

To communicate student progress with families, conferences will take place at school in November. Additionally, report cards will be shared at the close of each trimester throughout the year. A strong partnership between parents/guardians and teachers helps to ensure students have a positive and productive learning experience.

Colonial School District recognizes the need to protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information in the education records of children. This is accomplished by a questionnaire completed at registration as well as notices sent to physician’s offices and private schools located within Colonial School District.
No disclosure, except in specific instances, of personally identifiable information from student records to outside sources will be made without prior written consent of the parent/guardian or eligible student. An eligible student is a student who has reached 18 years of age.

Parents/guardians and/or eligible students have the right to inspect or review student’s records by appointment after a written request is received. Parents/guardians and/or eligible students have the right to request that a record be amended if they believe that information contained in the record is inaccurate or misleading or violates privacy. Parents/guardians and/or eligible students have a right to a student record hearing to challenge the content of education records.

Parents/guardians and/or eligible students have a right to file a written complaint with the Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Division, United States Department of Education, Switzer Building, 330 C Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20201, regarding possible violations. The Colonial School District maintains copies of its student records policy as approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in each school building (Principal’s or Guidance Office) and at the Administrative Office, 230 Flourtown Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. This plan is available for inspection. Any questions should be addressed to the Office of Pupil Services.