So it seems DCPS is willing to make reasonable accommodations. Which charter schools don't?

My tip to folks is to scan the health forms after every annual physical and dentist appointment and email it to yourself so you always have an electronic copy that you can send in. They don't need the original.

OP here with an update. We spoke with the registrar and she said we could register without the health certificates. We just need to get them turned in before school starts.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It is a dcps and the paperwork that we got from the school clearly indicates that health certificates need to be brought to register our kid. We plan to call the school in the morning to confirm but I'll also set up the appointments needed. Our kids aren't currently in daycare so this is a new rodeo.

If you are not able to get an appointment before the enrollment deadline, you can turn in the rest of your paperwork and then let them know that you'll bring the health form around X date. We have done this for the last several years (re-enrolling) because DD's birthday is a month after the enrollment paperwork is due and I'm not going to bring her early for her annual check up just to please the school. They've never had a problem getting the paper a month later. Ditto the dental paperwork, which is on a 6-month cycle.

You don't need a check up, you just need the form completed. Most doctors will complete them if you had a check up in the last 12 months. However they usually need 2 wks to fill them out, unless you beg and plead.

At our DCPS school a new child enrolling could also submit the health forms at the start of the school year. I would call and ask the school directly and not rely on the general paperwork.

Two years ago DCPS began trying to get new families to the school system to turn in their health forms when they enroll.

Families that are re-enrolling until the beginning of the school year to turn theirs in.

The city has a difficult time getting people to turn them in at all -- and doing it when people are ready to enroll and responsive to the admin's requests has helped.

It's not helpful to tell new people that the deadlines they've been told don't apply. They do.