Anonymous
Post 10/07/2025 09:44     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:Mr Professor doesn't know his students' ages and birthdays. He's just spewing bias.


You know, for all of the angst and stress constantly bubbling on these education threads (including the college and university one), it's kind of amazing how much vitriol gets consistently "spewed" at professors. Parents on here tend to be interested in having their kids go to college, but there is an enormous amount of hatred directed at those of us who are supposed to teach them. It feels like a real disconnect to me, especially when members of my profession are sharing their experiences with kids who are just older versions of your kids.
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2025 08:39     Subject: Re:DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
it really seems like this is something that should be up to parents, in consultation with the school, not decided by fiat. I also see the arguments for waiting for many kids, and why an extra year of PK could benefit a lot of kids. But it's not universal and maybe OP's kid is like mine and genuinely is ready for, and needs, kindergarten instead of another year of play-based PK.


When it comes to holding back, it is pretty much up to the parents. But I think that’s probably easier to manage. Many people think their kids are smarter than they are and try To push them before they are ready. When it doesn’t work, it’s really difficult on the child who can’t keep up.
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2025 08:30     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP, have your kid take the test - getting into K depends on how many classes they have in the school and if they are filled or not. Even if your kid is ahead by miles, if they don't have space, they will deny your kid. If your kid passes the test, go to the ES

If your kid does not make it, your back up is to do K in DC and then come as a 1st grader to MCPS.

If you go private, you have to do both K and 1st grade and come in as a 2nd grader



I don't think this will work. They don't let you take the test in MCPS until you register for kindergarten, including all the paperwork. (Remember, they are trying to make this as difficult as possible. They don't want to have to administer the test.) So, in order to take the test, OP would need to prove residence for the inbounds school. OP therefore won't have the backup of being able to go to DCPS, where she would also have to prove residency to remain at the school. (Unlike MCPS, DCPS requires everyone to prove residence every year.) So OP likely will have to choose whether it's worth moving to MoCo in the Spring and take the risk that her kid will have to do a private program.


Good point!

How about if OP's kid starts K in DC public school system and then transfers out to MCPS midway of the school year? Shouldn't that work? Since the kidhas already been enrolled in a public school system, same rule for transfering would apply?


Its going to depend on the school. More than likely they will not allow it but its very school-specific. Her best bet is to stay in DCPS for two years, then move to MCPS in 2nd. Very few schools allow test in as like PP said it depends on openings and the administrator, so then the only option is a private preschool or K.
Anonymous
Post 10/07/2025 08:26     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP, have your kid take the test - getting into K depends on how many classes they have in the school and if they are filled or not. Even if your kid is ahead by miles, if they don't have space, they will deny your kid. If your kid passes the test, go to the ES

If your kid does not make it, your back up is to do K in DC and then come as a 1st grader to MCPS.

If you go private, you have to do both K and 1st grade and come in as a 2nd grader



I don't think this will work. They don't let you take the test in MCPS until you register for kindergarten, including all the paperwork. (Remember, they are trying to make this as difficult as possible. They don't want to have to administer the test.) So, in order to take the test, OP would need to prove residence for the inbounds school. OP therefore won't have the backup of being able to go to DCPS, where she would also have to prove residency to remain at the school. (Unlike MCPS, DCPS requires everyone to prove residence every year.) So OP likely will have to choose whether it's worth moving to MoCo in the Spring and take the risk that her kid will have to do a private program.


Good point!

How about if OP's kid starts K in DC public school system and then transfers out to MCPS midway of the school year? Shouldn't that work? Since the kidhas already been enrolled in a public school system, same rule for transfering would apply?
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 23:02     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:OP, have your kid take the test - getting into K depends on how many classes they have in the school and if they are filled or not. Even if your kid is ahead by miles, if they don't have space, they will deny your kid. If your kid passes the test, go to the ES

If your kid does not make it, your back up is to do K in DC and then come as a 1st grader to MCPS.

If you go private, you have to do both K and 1st grade and come in as a 2nd grader



I don't think this will work. They don't let you take the test in MCPS until you register for kindergarten, including all the paperwork. (Remember, they are trying to make this as difficult as possible. They don't want to have to administer the test.) So, in order to take the test, OP would need to prove residence for the inbounds school. OP therefore won't have the backup of being able to go to DCPS, where she would also have to prove residency to remain at the school. (Unlike MCPS, DCPS requires everyone to prove residence every year.) So OP likely will have to choose whether it's worth moving to MoCo in the Spring and take the risk that her kid will have to do a private program.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 22:09     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
OP, have your kid take the test - getting into K depends on how many classes they have in the school and if they are filled or not. Even if your kid is ahead by miles, if they don't have space, they will deny your kid. If your kid passes the test, go to the ES

If your kid does not make it, your back up is to do K in DC and then come as a 1st grader to MCPS.

If you go private, you have to do both K and 1st grade and come in as a 2nd grader

Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 20:40     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So it doesn’t really matter how much we debate what makes sense. OP is unlikely to be able to send her September bday early to K. She can have her kid tested, but the state only requires that MCPS offer a test — it does not have to let any kids in early. And as such, it is easy for MCPS to stick with the 9/1 cutoff. OP
Will have to stay in DCPS for K if she wants to keep the kid as the youngest in the class.


OP has a few options. Try to test in, stay in DCPS, find a private that will allow them to go to K. There are smaller privates that are the same cost as day care that will allow it.

Saying to keep the child the youngest is silly. Are you trying to justify holding your child back?


What are you talking about? My kid went on time. I am going over the realistic options OP has in MCPS. She is unlikely to get an early spot in K. So if she wants that, she should spend another year in DCPS.


Its unlikely as its a subjective test at the will of the principal and staff. The other option is to go private.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 19:04     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So it doesn’t really matter how much we debate what makes sense. OP is unlikely to be able to send her September bday early to K. She can have her kid tested, but the state only requires that MCPS offer a test — it does not have to let any kids in early. And as such, it is easy for MCPS to stick with the 9/1 cutoff. OP
Will have to stay in DCPS for K if she wants to keep the kid as the youngest in the class.


OP has a few options. Try to test in, stay in DCPS, find a private that will allow them to go to K. There are smaller privates that are the same cost as day care that will allow it.

Saying to keep the child the youngest is silly. Are you trying to justify holding your child back?


What are you talking about? My kid went on time. I am going over the realistic options OP has in MCPS. She is unlikely to get an early spot in K. So if she wants that, she should spend another year in DCPS.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 13:55     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:This issue is not black and white.

If a student is too immature for college (regardless of whether they are 17 or 18), they can and should do a gap year. That's one of the things it's for. Enrolling a child in K at almost-5 does not dictate they will attend college at 17. People have free will.

I can see why a parent of a PK student who is reading at 4 would be interested in early K. My kid was an early reader and started K at just-turned-5 and it couldn't happen soon enough. She was ready and had really outgrown PK. I think if she'd been in Montessori it might not have been a big deal, because the mixed age classroom would have enabled her to do academics with older kids, but in a traditional public school, it just wasn't the right place for her anymore. So I get where OP is coming from -- she knows her kid best.

It really seems like this is something that should be up to parents, in consultation with the school, not decided by fiat. I also see the arguments for waiting for many kids, and why an extra year of PK could benefit a lot of kids. But it's not universal and maybe OP's kid is like mine and genuinely is ready for, and needs, kindergarten instead of another year of play-based PK.


Kids don't need to do a gap year. That's a rich parent whose trying to get their kid into a "better" school.

There should be more flexibility. I assume its principal bias as that's what we saw and kids who were reading, writing and doing basic math and could sit still were denied.

To hold back for more play based doesn't prepare kids for K.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 10:13     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:Are you saying he's doing kindergarten in DCPS this year and then you're moving to MCPS next year? If so he should be able to just be treated as a transfer: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/dtecps/earlychildhood/early-entrance/


This is correct...there is an in-person assessment administered at the elementary school where the child would attend. My daughter has a mid-September birthday, and she tested into KG. That year, the school principal told us that she was one of three of a total of seven kids who passed the test. Some of it is dependent on the school staff.

She's now a HS senior and is doing great!
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 10:01     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
This issue is not black and white.

If a student is too immature for college (regardless of whether they are 17 or 18), they can and should do a gap year. That's one of the things it's for. Enrolling a child in K at almost-5 does not dictate they will attend college at 17. People have free will.

I can see why a parent of a PK student who is reading at 4 would be interested in early K. My kid was an early reader and started K at just-turned-5 and it couldn't happen soon enough. She was ready and had really outgrown PK. I think if she'd been in Montessori it might not have been a big deal, because the mixed age classroom would have enabled her to do academics with older kids, but in a traditional public school, it just wasn't the right place for her anymore. So I get where OP is coming from -- she knows her kid best.

It really seems like this is something that should be up to parents, in consultation with the school, not decided by fiat. I also see the arguments for waiting for many kids, and why an extra year of PK could benefit a lot of kids. But it's not universal and maybe OP's kid is like mine and genuinely is ready for, and needs, kindergarten instead of another year of play-based PK.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 09:55     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:So it doesn’t really matter how much we debate what makes sense. OP is unlikely to be able to send her September bday early to K. She can have her kid tested, but the state only requires that MCPS offer a test — it does not have to let any kids in early. And as such, it is easy for MCPS to stick with the 9/1 cutoff. OP
Will have to stay in DCPS for K if she wants to keep the kid as the youngest in the class.


OP has a few options. Try to test in, stay in DCPS, find a private that will allow them to go to K. There are smaller privates that are the same cost as day care that will allow it.

Saying to keep the child the youngest is silly. Are you trying to justify holding your child back?
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 09:51     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
So it doesn’t really matter how much we debate what makes sense. OP is unlikely to be able to send her September bday early to K. She can have her kid tested, but the state only requires that MCPS offer a test — it does not have to let any kids in early. And as such, it is easy for MCPS to stick with the 9/1 cutoff. OP
Will have to stay in DCPS for K if she wants to keep the kid as the youngest in the class.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 09:35     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do not send a 4 year old to K, just don't do it. Especially a boy. There will be many boys in the grade with July, August, September birthdays from the year before. Do you want your 17 year old starting college with 19 year olds?


They are turning 5 within weeks. And, they are 18 in college. You don’t want an 18 year old their entire senior year.


Why not? I can tell you as a professor I don't want a 17-year-old college freshman (or one 5 minutes past their 18th birthday) who isn't absolutely extraordinary in their maturity. Several months of growth and experience may not matter as radically in the later teens as they do in the preschool years - but they do still matter.


Maybe you are the problem, not the student. This makes no sense.


Jesus, this is how educator gets dispelled these days. A K-12 teacher, a university professor, and a parent with their first-hand experience shared their general observations from a group of samples (the former two has a large group of samples), and you can just use your own outlier example to call others a problem. If your kid is a true outlier, I feel sorry for them with an arrogant parent. If your kid is not, then good work, mirror mirror on the wall.


They are not saying anything of substance. Teachers and parents want older kids who are not age-appropriate, because it's easier for them, not best for the student. It is normal for kids to start K at age 5 and college at 18. Does 2-3 weeks make a difference? Of course not. The real issue is kids not being prepared for K and that is the fault of the preschool, teachers and parents, barring any special needs or disabilities. If your Larla or Larlo cannot go to K at age five with no special needs, then what went wrong? It's rich parents trying to game the system. Let's be real. The point of preschool is to prepare them for K.
Anonymous
Post 10/06/2025 08:51     Subject: DCPS to MCPS, September birthday
Mr Professor doesn't know his students' ages and birthdays. He's just spewing bias.