How common is redshirting in APS and FCPS?

[Anonymous]

How common is redshirting in Arlington and Fairfax county public schools? My son turns 5 in mid-September and we plan to send him on time. He will be 4 when he starts school, and I'm wondering if he will really be 1-2 years younger than all of his classmates. We are debating between staying in S. Arlington vs moving to the Burke/West Springfield area, so I am interested in feedback about both school districts.

[Anonymous]

I'm in APS.

I know two boys who were redshirted in my son's grade. There are plenty of summer boys and I know a handful of September boys (who went on time). So not terribly common to redshirt in my small slice of life.

[Anonymous]

I'm in FCPS. There are 3 boys and 1 girl who were red shirted in my daughter's classroom. I know because they did a project with their birth dates! DD is in 5th grade. Two of the boys are very tall, but not the tallest in the class. The girl is petite, but she does very well academically (she's a friend of my daughter).

[Anonymous]

We live in the Burke/West Springfield area. I'm not sure how helpful this is. Some will, some won't. Everyone doesn't redshirt - probably more send on time if you crunch the numbers but a fair amount do redshirt.

I sent my kid with a late summer birthday on time. In DC1's K class of about 22, there were 3 redshirted boys with summer birthdays. There were two boys with summer bdays who went on time, and 3 girls who were not redshirted with summer / fall birthdays.

I have one in K now and I know of one redshirted kid in the class (and two with summer bdays who were not redshirted) but I pay less attention this time around bc the redshirted kids are only 6 months older than DC2 versus DC1 (where they were 12+ months older).

If I had to do it over - I would make the same decision to send on time. That's not to say I didn't completely over analyze it at the time. GL.

[Anonymous]

I don't know how common it is, but I also am in APS with a DS who turns 5 in mid-September and we will be redshirting, no question. Seeing the difference that just 6 months can make in terms of maturity is startling (I observed this in his preschool classmates).

[Anonymous]

The higher the average HHI, the larger % of red shirted students.

[Anonymous]

He might be 12-13 months younger than a few classmates, but not 2 years younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The higher the average HHI, the larger % of red shirted students.

Correct. Parents with the funds for another year of preschool are more likely to hold their children back.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter. When your daughter is 14 she can be in a classroom with a 21 year old.

[Anonymous]

Redshirting is very common in my experience with APS. Your kid will never surrounded by old farts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The higher the average HHI, the larger % of red shirted students.

This! The more SAHMs there are the more kids are redshirted. All the kids I know with 2 working parents started on time regardless of how late their birthdays are.

I also wond if kids who have always been in daycare are more prepared to start and adjust to the full days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The higher the average HHI, the larger % of red shirted students.

This! The more SAHMs there are the more kids are redshirted. All the kids I know with 2 working parents started on time regardless of how late their birthdays are.

I also wond if kids who have always been in daycare are more prepared to start and adjust to the full days.

I thought that (the last sentence) about my kiddo #1 who had a great adjustment to K. I had a new thankful view of daycare after his great adjustment.
DC2 still napped at daycare before K and once he started K, he was good at school but very tired and cranky for the first few months at home after school so I think it depends, now.

[Anonymous]

Why does it matter if people do or do not redshirt their kid? What matters is if your kid is ready for K if they are on the fence age wise. If they are ready, why leave them in pre-school an extra year? And if they are not, give them an extra year to mature, even if their BFF who was born the same week heads off to K. Your child’s pre-school teacher should be able to give you good insight into whether your child is ready or not. There are also checklists all over the internet. For example,

https://www.familyeducation.com/school/kindergarten-readiness/kindergarten-readiness-checklist

http://www.vbschools.com/kindergarten/checklist.pdf

But realize that in FCPS/APS, most kids will be ahead of the curve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous[b wrote:]Why does it matter if people do or do not redshirt their kid?[/b] What matters is if your kid is ready for K if they are on the fence age wise. If they are ready, why leave them in pre-school an extra year? And if they are not, give them an extra year to mature, even if their BFF who was born the same week heads off to K. Your child’s pre-school teacher should be able to give you good insight into whether your child is ready or not. There are also checklists all over the internet. For example,

https://www.familyeducation.com/school/kindergarten-readiness/kindergarten-readiness-checklist

http://www.vbschools.com/kindergarten/checklist.pdf

But realize that in FCPS/APS, most kids will be ahead of the curve.

Not the OP, but it matters a lot because if the vast majority of parents are red shirting their kids then the age gap is that much more pronounced. You could have a barely 5 yr old in a K class with 6.5+ yr olds.

[Anonymous]

9:04 again..

meant to add..

and while your 5 yr old might be completely ready for k, being in a class with kids 1.5-2 yrs older will quickly make them appear to not be ready or able to keep up with "peers". Red shirting skews everything because in a lot of high income areas it's not done because kids really aren't "ready" but rather to kids kids an advantage.