The Revere Local School District has announced a plan to change the age of admittance for kindergarteners in the 2018-2019 school year.

The school board has made the final push this year to move the entrance date for incoming five year olds from September 30 to August 30. This means kindergarten students must be five by August 1 to start the program at Revere. Next year will be a transition year, as the parents will have the option to choose when their kids start. The school board will encourage the later starting date beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. Kathy Nolan, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, supported the decision along with many of the teachers and brought it to the attention of Superintendent Montgomery.

“The decision was made based on a concern that children who just turned five before coming to school or after school has started tend to be the youngest and most behind developmentally in the class. With high expectations on students now at every level, being a little older when you arrive in kindergarten serves as an advantage. As the children progress through the grades, they are more prepared to learn and as a result, are more successful in their experiences,” Nolan said.

The board made this decision with the goal of long-term success for the students in mind. Kindergarten teachers such as Jennifer Silvidi and Kathy Wise commented upon the topic.

“About ten years ago we initiated conversation about it, but it was Mrs. Nolan’s [decision to go through with it]. It has always been a topic of conversation that we have revisited [for kindergarteners] and what would be best for the kids,” Silvidi said.

Wise, after having seen the material of first grade for twenty-three years, decided to switch over to kindergarten when it became a full day. She commented how a later start date would benefit upcoming students as elementary curriculum has become more challenging.

“I knew where the kindergarten children needed to be when they came into first grade, so I thought that it would be a nice change. Honestly, the rigor is much more than it was twenty years ago,” Wise said.

The board has been formulating the idea for a long time, ten years to be exact, and Hillcrest Elementary Principal Julie Gulley has performed extensive research about the change.

“You look at that data between students struggling and those doing well and compare stuff like home life, socially–if they get along with peers–or if they know their letter names and sounds, and sometimes it’s apparent that they are just younger. It is tough though because there is that mentality that when you turn five you go to school–in New Zealand when they turn five whether it in January or February they go to school the next day,” Gulley said.

Early entrance is also an option, but most will wait until the next year. To qualify for early entrance, the four year old student must be able to perform at a first grade level.

“There will be children who may be developmentally ready for kindergarten who do not turn five by this date. When this happens, we will look at each of these children individually, assessing their readiness to attend. This is called early entrance and will involve student testing and an number of other considerations. Early entrance will not apply to most of our students as it defeats the purpose of changing the date,” Nolan said.

Emphasizing the students’ well-being and success, the school board made this decision in hopes of further bettering the Revere Local School District.