2015-16 KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION

Post date: Apr 2, 2015 3:23:31 PM

When school begins this August, all incoming Kindergartners across the state who enroll in a North Carolina Public School will be given the new Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA). The KEA is designed to give teachers a better understanding of the developmental status of each student’s early childhood school readiness.

In 2011, the NC General Assembly passed the Excellent Public Schools Act, and as part of that legislation the Read to Achieve Program was initiated. This program, in its second year of implementation, sets third grade reading standards for all students as well as assigns individual schools A-F grades on the NC School Report Cards that were released in February of this year.

The state law requires that all students entering kindergarten must be screened in early language, literacy, and math skills within the first 60 days of enrollment. The KEA is based on language, cognitive ability, motivation in learning, physical well-being, motor skill development, and social/emotional development. Ultimately, this data is attempting to give the teacher a picture of the “whole child” as they enter public school.

The General Assembly Act will require Yancey County Schools to add the KEA in addition to the existing K-3 mCLASS Reading 3D Assessment and the K-2 Math Assessments. The impact on classroom time and instruction has yet to be determined. Yancey County Schools will hold the annual Kindergarten Registration Kickoff on Thursday, April 16^th at the Town Center beginning at 12:00 noon and lasting until 3:00pm. Then from 1:00 to 6:00 pm, registration will be held at all YCS elementary schools. Parents must register their child in the district in which they live.