Kindergarten Screening
New York State mandates that all children entering kindergarten are screened for early academic skills, speech-language skills, fine/gross motor skills, and vision/hearing. The screening is designed to give you an indication of your child's development in the above mentioned areas. It is also designed to identify those children who demonstrate weaknesses with their development and may need support services to assist them with the kindergarten curriculum.
You will sign up for an appointment for the kindergarten screening when you register your child for kindergarten with the main office. The kindergarten screening is held in June prior to the start of kindergarten. You will bring your child to Evans (the child's home-school) at your scheduled day and time. You can plan on your child spending about an hour with four of our staff: reading teacher, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, and school nurse. After the screening, one of the staff will talk with you briefly about what a great child you have and/or any areas identified through the screening that may need improvement.
It is important to keep in mind that the screening is only a snapshot of your child's abilities. Your child's kindergarten teacher will have a thorough understanding of your child's strengths and weaknesses once your child is in school and becomes comfortable with the classroom environment. If it is determined that your child has identified weaknesses from the screening, they will be monitored by the kindergarten teacher the first quarter of the school year. If weaknesses persist, you will be notified and a Learning Improvement Team (LIT) meeting will be called to determine what interventions may be necessary to help your child achieve academic success.
Hopefully you will have plenty of opportunities to work with your child on areas identified through the screening over the summer, but please remember to take a deep breath, have fun, and enjoy the summer. This is just the beginning to your child's educational career. 