Early Entrance 

Overview

Skokie School District 68 complies with Illinois law which specifies that, to enter kindergarten or first grade, children must be five years of age on or before September 1st of their kindergarten year, or six years of age, on or before September 1st of their first grade year (105 ILCS 5/10, Sec. 20-12). However, Public Act 100-0421 provides exceptions to this law for children whose potential and skills are in the very superior range when compared with their peers.
 
District 68 has identified early entrance to kindergarten and first grade as whole grade acceleration, appropriate for those students who are developmentally and academically ready. Whole grade acceleration occurs when a student is advanced into a higher grade for all subject areas.  The decision to allow a student early entrance is solely at the discretion of the Strategy Development school team.
 
Early Entrance Requirements

1. The child must be registered with Skokie School District 68 and provide proof of residency at the time of application.   

2. The child must meet the age requirements (turn 5 years of age by December 31 of that school year for early entrance to kindergarten or turn 6 years of age by December 31 of that school year for early entrance to first grade). 

Early Entrance Process

Part One:  

1. Parents/guardians must submit the Parent/Guardian Request for Early Entrance form to the building principal along with any outside data for consideration. The application deadline is June 1 for that upcoming school year.  No applications will be accepted after that date. 
2. The building principal will schedule an appointment which shall include the child’s parents/guardians, the child, the principal and the school psychologist.  The meeting will take place by early June.  In this meeting, the group will meet as a whole to get to know one another and to help the child feel comfortable with the school adults.  Then, the psychologist will conduct a child interview (making observations of the child's demeanor and developmental readiness while interacting with play-based activities) while the principal conducts a parent interview to gain a better understanding of the parents' perspective on the child's readiness for early entrance. The principal may determine that additional information is necessary such as contacting pre-school or kindergarten teachers/schools to obtain more insight into a child's readiness.  
3. Following the initial meeting, the building principal will determine if the child shall move on to Part Two of the early entrance process and will communicate the decision to the parent within five business days. 

Part Two: 

1. There will be one date in mid July set aside for additional early entrance screening.  All children who have moved to Part Two of the early entrance process will interact with each other and a district psychologist during this phase.  In addition to some time spent in peer interactions, the children will take an i-Ready Reading and Math assessment to determine their academic readiness.  The district will look for student results in the 90th percentile of performance for Fall.  If the child is not available on this testing date, the child will not be grade accelerated for that school year. 
2. The principal will confer with the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and will then contact the child’s parents to convey the decision made within five business days.  This decision is final. 

Parent/Guardian Request for Early Entrance