Dear District 64 Families,
It’s that time of year again when we shift some of our attention to next year, which leads to registration. For all students, including kindergarten, registration begins on March 7th. We made a few improvements to the registration process this year, and we’re implementing a June 1st deadline.
So, if you’re planning on sending your child to a District 64 school for the 2023-2024 school year, make sure you register before the deadline of June 1st, 2023. For any families who do not register by this date, you’ll receive a records release as we’re assuming you’re going to another district.
Why are we making this change? As a District, we often look at different processes and how to improve. One thing we noted was that a large number of families were waiting until the last minute to register their children. This delay makes our back-to-school planning efforts extremely difficult.
For example, if we were to look at last year, we could see that only 67% of families had registered by June 1st, meaning that the District and all of our schools were still waiting for 33% of people to register for the 2022-2023 school year.
Why is this so important? The new registration deadline was put into place because we need your help. When families wait to register, it delays our plan for staffing throughout the District, classroom arrangements, and the materials needed for the school year. The earlier we have enrollment numbers, the better we can calculate these areas - which helps us have a successful school year and help our students in the best ways possible.
What happens after June 1st? Here’s what you need to know if you do miss the deadline and want your child to go to school in District 64. You will need to complete a few items to enroll:
- Prove residency, even if you were previously cleared
- Provide a birth certificate of the child registering
Lack of information on who is returning not only creates problems in the classroom but there may also be issues with transportation routing.
As an improvement to the registration process, we no longer require fee payment at the same time as enrollment. We encourage families to pay their student fees as soon as possible and would like payments in by September 1st.
We realize that the June 1st deadline is a significant change, and we appreciate the community’s help to ensure we accurately plan for the upcoming year. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Take Care,