Clahal

Hi all,

My family and I are relocating from the UK in the next few months.

My husband will be working in the Financial District and we've decided to live in NJ.

Can anyone tell me the process for getting your child into school late on, possibly even into the start of the new school year in September?

He turns 6 in October..is it the same birthday cut-off as NY whereby he'll go into 1st Grade?

Thanks in advance 😀

petitefrancaise

I was going to recommend the city data forum but I see you've already found it and had your question about age answered.

If you are resident in the school district area then they have to give you a place in the school for that address, doesn't matter when you arrive. That's why it's so important to find a house in a good school area.

When you've found the area you want to live in/school you want the kids to go to, then you will look at the school district or school website which should have all the information you need to register the kids.

Clahal

Thanks that's great. What happens if they don't have any spaces in the relevant year group?

Bob

Then you get a over crowded class room.

Clahal

Surely there's a maximum teacher to child ratio?

Thanks

petitefrancaise

probably. you could look at the New Jersey Board of Education website, this kind of stuff is usually buried deep at state level.

I know in our good school areas the availability of housing is the limiting factor for class sizes. When I was looking for rental houses for excellent middle and high school area, there were 4 houses available to rent, 3 were too small. All were expensive (for here anyway)

HartleyHare

I can't speak for the whole of NJ, but our town had some discretion over class sizes. There are guidelines, but I've never been able to track them down. TBH, at the middle school my daughter attended, the average class size was between 15-20 students. Compare this to her UK primary and secondary schools which had the maximum of 30 pupils per class.

Ridgewood for example, has 6 elementary schools and they have been known to move children between the schools due to overcrowding. The overcrowding has to be put into perspective though - shortly before we returned to the UK there was a local article voicing parents concerns as some class sizes were creeping up to 24!

However, I've seen posts from people living in the San Francisco area that have advised that their school districts will send children to schools in a different district due to over subscription of the popular schools.

The only suggestion I could make is that the OP contacts the school districts direct to find out their schools admissions policy, but broadly speaking the school must accept your child if you live within the district.

Clahal

Yes, there seems to be very few rental properties around. I spoke with an real estate agent the other night and she was concerned that there may just not be enough available for us to find something we like. We'll see I guess.

Clahal

Wow those class sizes would be fab..more like private schools here!

Currently, my son is in one of 2 reception classes each with 30 kids in and there are 2 teachers plus 3 teaching assistants between all 60 kids. Not too bad I guess but it's pretty manic!

Michael

In California, if the classes are full for that grade, the child can't go to the assigned catchment school that year and will go to another school in that school district. Therefore make sure all the schools in that district are highly ranked. Also sometimes borders for catchment areas are reconfigured but if all schools are high ranked in the school district, that shouldn't make much difference in the child's education.

HartleyHare

Here's the article if you're interested:
Residents concerned over rising Ridgewood class sizes - Education - NorthJersey.com

Clahal

So an update..
I got in touch with the Maplewood/South Orange board of education. Their cut off is 1st October (my son's birthday is 15th October). They won't budge on this under any circumstances.
This is really worrying me, because he'd be the eldest in Kindergarten PLUS he's very advanced (he's been reading at age 7-8 since he turned 5 and he's working at a similar level in other areas too).
I really want to find out which districts in NJ have more relaxed rules or their cut off date is later.
HELP!

notonuksoil

Not sure about how it works in NJ but when we moved to NY my eldest daughter (April birthday) had to do a Kindergarten screening to check she was ready to start school. She had already completed reception in the UK and we thought the test totally ridiculous. They asked her to count to 20, point to colours and shapes and recite the alphabet. After the test they said she was ready!

Luckily I took her work books, reading diary and her school report with me she had a reading age of an 8 yr old. The teacher had a look at them then went to get the principle, the principle then spoke to my daughter and took a book from a 1st grade classroom for her to read. After a discussion between my daughter, the teacher, the principle and myself she contacted the district office and she was put into 1st grade. We were told this NEVER happens!

We originally only came to the US on a two year secondment and told the school we didn't want our daughter falling behind her UK peers they took this into consideration when she was moved up a grade. She completed 1st and 2nd grade in NY returned to the UK for 3rd and 4th grade then we moved back to the same school district in NY where they put her into 5th grade with the kids she knew from 1st and 2nd grade.

Clahal

Thanks for your reply.
I'm going to get in touch with the individual districts and I've emailed the NJ State DOE so we'll see what happens 😀

Clahal

Can anyone tell me the hours that Kindergarten students attend school in Maplewood/SO each day please? Is it a full or half day?

How does this differ from 1st Grade?

Thanks � ����