How is the new Kindergarten application process different from previous years?The new admission process includes an extended admission period. Applications for all Kindergarten programs (including regular English, French Immersion, Montessori and Fine Arts) for the 2010/2011school year will begin on November 1, 2009. Catchment students applying for registration between November 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010 will be given first consideration over those who apply later. Should there be more applicants than available space in any program, a lottery will be held to determine the order of student placements for the program. This new process will replace the previous first come, first served procedure and eliminate the need for families to arrive early on the first day of registration.
When can a family register their child for Kindergarten? Applications for Kindergarten for the 2010 - 2011 school year will be accepted beginning on November 1, 2009. A family can register their child(ren) for Kindergarten if the student will reach the age of 5 years on or before December 31 of the calendar year. For the 2010-2011 school year the child must be born in 2005. A family may defer the enrollment of their child until the first school day of the next school year. Placement consideration at that time will be made in consultation between the parent and the principal.
Where can a family register their child for Kindergarten? A family can register their child(ren) for Kindergarten at their neighbourhood catchment school if the child was born in Canada and if the child speaks English at home.
How do I find out in which catchment area I live? Parents can acquire this information from their neighbourhood school, by calling the District Reception and Placement Centre or by visiting the Vancouver School Board's
School Location Search by Postal Code.
My child was born outside of Canada. How can I register him/her for school? Students born outside Canada must first register with their parent or legal guardian at the District Reception and Placement Centre (DRPC) before they can be accepted into the catchment school. Please see the
DRPC website for more specific information about registration procedures.
What documentation am I required to bring when I submit my child’s Kindergarten application? Various documents and records are needed to ensure your child’s application is complete and, most importantly, to ensure the school has the basic information it needs to maximize the health and security of your child. Parents/guardians are asked to bring the following documents:
- Completed BCeSIS registration form (available at each school)
- Proof of residence in Vancouver
- Home owners - recent property tax statement or purchase agreement, or
- Tenants - a formal rental or lease agreement or
- Parent Declaration of Residence form (available at the District Reception and Placement Centre)
- Child’s birth certificate (ideally showing parents’ names)
- Immigration documents, Canadian Citizenship documents or Aboriginal status identification for parents and children
- Immunization records (if available) and other important health information(e.g. medical alerts)
- Child’s previous report card (if applicable)
- any other relevant documentation involving guardianship, court orders, etc.
Any missing documents will delay the processing time and completion of application. If you unable to produce any of the above documents, please contact the school principal.
What are the dates for Kindergarten registration for the 2010/11 school year? Registration is not on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications for the 2010/11school year will be accepted during school office hours (9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.) between November 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010. Students submitting applications to their catchment school during this period will receive early consideration over students who apply after January 31, 2010.
What happens if a program receives more in-catchment applicants than available space? Should a school receive more applications for Kindergarten than the available spaces, an in-catchment school draw will be held during the second week of February 2010. Catchment students who apply within the early application period will be eligible for the draw. The draw will be supervised by the principal and a parent representative from the school’s Parent Advisory Council.
When will families be notified about the results of the draw? Parents should receive notification, by mail, of their child’s status by Friday, February 19, 2010. The letter should include either an offer of a space in Kindergarten or an indication of the child’s position on the school waitlist. If you have not been contacted, please call the school administrator.
What happens if I register after the January 31, 2010 deadline? Applications received after January 31 will not be considered until all in-catchment students who submitted an application prior to January 31 have been placed. Late applicants, including siblings of students already enrolled in the school, will be added in time-dated order to the end of the school’s in-catchment waitlist.
Our family has twins. How will this situation be addressed in the draw? Where a family has twins, only one ballot will be entered into the draw. If drawn, both children will be offered places in the program.
Does a family have to formally accept a position, and if so in what time frame? Families will have until Friday, February 26, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. to confirm their acceptance of the space in Kindergarten. After that time, unclaimed spaces, or those that later become available, will be offered to those on the waitlist.
What happens if my child is unsuccessful in the draw for a Kindergarten space at the catchment school? Students not selected from the draw will be added to a waitlist to be maintained by the school. The students will in the interim be placed at a neighbouring school that has the available space, resources and staffing to accommodate the student.
Can I apply cross-boundary to another school? Parents may apply cross-boundary to another school, but these applications will only be considered after all in-catchment applicants have been placed. If your child is successful in securing a cross boundary space at another school, please be aware that schools annually review their cross boundary numbers to ensure that catchment students are not prevented from enrolling at their catchment school. Unlike siblings of in-catchment students who will be concurrently attending the same school, siblings of cross boundary students do not have priority consideration for acceptance. Cross-boundary applications for a school other than their neighbourhood school will be accepted from February 1, 2010 through March 1, 2010.
What happens if a Kindergarten space becomes available at the catchment school during the school year? The space will be offered to students in the following priority order:
- in draw order to students on the in-catchment waitlist who registered within the early registration period (November 1, 2009 - January 31, 2010)
- catchment students who registered after January 31, 2010 but have an older sibling who will be concurrently attending the school
- in time dated order to those in-catchment students who were added to the waitlist after January 31, 2010
- cross boundary students
When will I be informed about the school my Kindergarten child will be attending? All families who submit a Kindergarten application prior to January 31, 2010 will be given notification of the school their child will be attending by March 31, 2010. This includes waitlisted students who were unable to secure a spot during the lottery process.
Will my child have priority consideration for acceptance if he/she has an older sibling attending the school? Sibling consideration for priority acceptance will apply if all of the following conditions apply:
- the applicant, sibling(s) and parent/guardian reside within the school’s catchment boundary
- the applicant’s sibling is currently enrolled at the school and will continue to attend the same school during the next school year,
Please note that for the Montessori program only, given the large size of the catchment area, a sibling of a new registrant will also be given priority consideration. This sibling will be offered the next available spot that opens up at his/her grade level; and - the applicant submitted an application for Kindergarten prior to the early registration deadline of January 31, 2010.
What happens if I submit a sibling application after the January 31, 2010 deadline? Please note that as per Question # 8 and 17 above, late sibling applicants will not displace in-catchment registrants who registered on or before the January 31 deadline. Late sibling applicants, however, will have priority consideration over other late in-catchment applicants.
If I am going to be moving to Vancouver, can I register for the Kindergarten catchment school where I intend to live? No. You must be a resident in the catchment area at the time of application in order to apply as an in-catchment applicant for September 2010. If you do not reside in the school’s catchment area you may apply as a cross-boundary or out-of-district applicant.
Can I apply over the telephone, by e-mail, by fax or by sending a relative or friend? In order to verify the authenticity of required documents the student’s parent/guardian is expected to accompany the child during the initial application process. The extended application period will allow parents/guardians time to submit any missing documentation to complete the application process. Any extenuating circumstances which may prevent the parent/guardian from submitting the application in person should be reported to the school principal.
My child was waitlisted to attend his/her catchment school. Subsequently, he/she was placed in another school in Vancouver. How can my child return to his/her catchment school? When a program space opens up at the catchment school, the student who is next on the waitlist will be contacted and offered an opportunity to return to the catchment school. The family then has the choice of accepting the space or having the child complete the remainder of the school year at the current school. All waitlists will be maintained for the following year. Returning students will need to present proof of residence at the catchment school.
Are waitlists for French Immersion maintained differently? Yes, waitlists are not maintained for the following year in French Immersion due to the increase demand, larger catchment area and limited in-take period for the Grade 1 French Immersion program. Entry for Early French Immersion occurs at Kindergarten and up to the last day of September for Grade 1 students who have had no previous French language instruction. The Kindergarten waitlists will be dissolved on the last day of June during each school year. Families who were unsuccessful in securing a Kindergarten spot for their child the previous year will need to reapply within the early application period (November 01, 2009 – January 29, 2010) to their French Immersion catchment school for Grade 1. If the program is oversubscribed, a Grade 1 lottery will be held to determine placement and waitlist order. The Grade 1 waitlist will expire September 29, 2010.
My spouse and I are separated and arrangements have been made for our child to live with one parent on alternate days/weeks. Is my child entitled to complete an in-catchment registration at two different schools? No, a student can only have one catchment school. Parents need to determine which school will be their catchment school. They may apply cross-boundary to another Kindergarten program.
