Kindergarten Registration Procedures

DISTRICT KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION PROCEDURES FOR 2010/2011

Applications for all Kindergarten programs (including regular English, French Immersion, Montessori and Fine Arts) for the 2010/2011 school year will be accepted starting November 2, 2009.  Catchment students applying for registration between November 2, 2009 and January 29, 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.  

Students not selected from the draw will be added to a waitlist to be maintained by the school. Waitlisted students, in the interim, will be placed at a neighbouring school that has the available space, resources and staffing to accommodate them.  Should a Kindergarten space become available at the catchment school during the school year, the student who is next on the waitlist will be offered the opportunity either to return immediately to the catchment school or to stay at the current school for the remainder of the school year.  Kindergarten waitlists will be maintained for the following year. 

(Please note that there may be different waitlist criteria for specific district programs such as French Immersion.)

Students born outside of Canada, however, 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.  More specific information about registration procedures can be found on the general registration page.

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 in-catchment students already enrolled in the school, will be added in time-dated order to the end of the school’s in-catchment waitlist. Late in-catchment sibling applicants registering after January 31, however, will have priority consideration over other late in-catchment applicants.  This process will allow schools and families to recognize the importance of registration timelines and the schools’ effort in accommodating families who want to keep siblings together at the same catchment school.

Schools are expected to provide parents with written notification of their child’s status by mid-February of the current school year.  The letter should include either an offer of a space in Kindergarten or an indication of the child’s position on the school’s waitlist. 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.

Cross-boundary applications for a school other than their neighbourhood school will be accepted from February 1, 2010 through March 1, 2010.

For further information about the new Kindergarten registration procedures, please see the Frequently Asked Questions attached.