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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
MoCo Schools - Is September 1st birthday cut off the rule?
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Anonymous
| Anyone know if MoCo's September 1st birthday cut off is a hard rule with no exceptions or if there ways/tests/etc to work around it? |
Anonymous
| A child whose birthday is before October 15 can test in. |
Anonymous
| If you go to the moco website you can find the info about testing in. From what I have heard it's hard for a child to test in (someone who has had their child successfully test in please share b/c I only know what I have heard). I know many people who have chosen not to attempt to test in, and really no one who has. |
Anonymous
I only know third-hand someone whose daughter did test in. They are a military family who moved to MOCO because they did have an option to test in and I was told she did test in succesfully, but I don't know what it took or what grade she was testing for. I currently have a baby due on Sept. 16th, and I am already not looking forward to the options in 5 yrs. |
Anonymous
I don't get this. Why are you not looking forward to the options? What's wrong with sending a September child on time, the year he is 5yo when school starts? |
Anonymous
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I know three kids who tried to test in. All three were successful. I don't know anyone who failed. Two of the three have already completed kindergarten and their moms tell me they are doing fine. The other is about to start kindergarten. I am most likely going to request that my youngest be tested for early entrance.
BTW, about a week ago, there was another thread on this topic either on the MD Public Schools or the Schools Discussion site. I posted the link to the MoCo information on early entrance. |
Anonymous
| I can identify...My DD has a Sept 10 b-day (she'll be 4 next month). We live in Frederick, MD. Early this year I was looking into the requirements for kindergarten just to be prepared for next year. The cutoff is Sept 1 so she misses the cutoff by 10 days. No biggie she'll just "test in." Or so I thought... On the website it says the child will test for one hour. Then meet with the principal, an early childhood teacher, me, reading teacher to evaulate further. Then they will contact her preschool to further assess her readiness. IF the child is approved for early entrance she is there a probationary basis and will be re-evaulated at the end of 30 days. If things arent going well her early status will be revoked (sent back to Pre-K). OMG, seriously.....all this for kindergarten. I have a friend who teaches 1st grade in Frederick County who has a daughter who has an end of September b-day. She said the process is tough and she agonized over whether to apply for early entrance and decided not to. Havent decided what we will do yet. |
Anonymous
Because the choice will be the county's not mine merely because the child is born two weeks after some arbitrary cut off date. What that means is that when I want to put my child in pre-school when he is not quite two years old, I will have to deal with pre-schools who are willing to accept a child that is born 14 days too late, and who will therefore have to wait 361 days longer to start preschool. And then, when the child is 4, almost 5, I will be choosing between a 4s program, a transistional kindergarten or a private kindergarten (after potentially dealing with MoCo's testing process that might even not be available 5 years from now.) Sometimes, having an elective c-section now on August 31 seems like a nice alternative, until you consider your child's health. It's just stupidly arbitrary. |
Anonymous
continuing.... stupidly arbitrary and unnecessarily tough on a child who may be born mere hours after another child, who gets in not matter what his developmental stage simply by virtue of being born before the arbitrary cutoff. |
Anonymous
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"What's wrong with sending a September child on time, the year he is 5yo when school starts?"
Spoken like someone who has NO idea of the sh*t you have to go through if your child is born after the Sept 1 cutoff. Honestly...that was me until I researched the process. I had absolutely no idea it was a big deal. |
Anonymous
Actually, it's not for kindergarten. It is for her entire school career. Whatever decision you make now will have an impact on her school experience every year, for the next 13 years. |
Anonymous
No. My question is, why not send your child on time, the year the system says s/he should go? No sh*t to go through. Just wait another year. WHAT is the rush? |
Anonymous
Well yes, the school system decides because you are using the school system. Your child has not even been born and you've decided that s/he is ready early for kindergarten? Seriously? The cutoff is arbitrary, but what cutoff wouldn't be? They have to use *some* cutoff. Maryland is one of the last states in the country to have adopted the September 1st cutoff such that 4yos are not starting kindergarten and turning 5 between September and December. The rationale for this is based on studies that show that children who are five do better, particularly given that kindergarten is not the play-nap-juice-ABCs experience that it was in our generation. |
Anonymous
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Had a child due date of Sept 5. Scheduled an induction for Aug 23rd, then other complications intervened for an Aug 12 birthday. Perfectly happy as youngest in class.
And yes, I would have induced on Aug 23rd. Probably not a c-section on Aug 23rd. |
Anonymous
You would induce and deliver a baby early because of a school system cutoff? Seriously? 
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