William Shaw

Can anyone tell me at what age the Public Schools in the States (Particularly Connecticut or New Jersey) start enrolling children for Kindergarten/school?

I am looking to move to these areas next year and my children will be 5, 2.5 and 1. Obviously I don't expect my youngest to go to School, but my eldest will have had a year at school in England and my second will have been to nursery.

If Public schools are unavailable at these ages, does anyone know the cost of Montessori schools?

Thanks
W

dbj1000

School starting age here in Texas is 5, and I was under the impression that it's the same in most, if not all states.

Motessori cost us around $550 per month, per child (!) two of years ago, and went up by about $100 per year.

Celsius

The info you're after is more than likely on the web, even about the Montessori schools.

William Shaw

I have tried to use the internet Celsius, but it is not as straightforward as you might imagine. I think that this is the internet anyway (but I may be wrong).

mandpete

Children start public schools in NJ the September following their 5th birthday.

My daughter was 5 when we moved to NJ and because she had already been to school for a year in England she skipped kindergarten and went straight in to 1st grade. Although she is a year younger than her classmates she is doing extremely well and makes 'honors' every marking period.

Your two youngest will be too young for public schools. There are plenty of Montessori schools in NJ but I have no idea what their fees are. There are also plenty of good private and public pre-schools in NJ.

I assess pre-schools (central and southern NJ) and I recommend that you take your time choosing somewhere for your younger children. Living in an 'affluent' area does not always guarantee good pre-schools.

Englishmum

What happens when their birthday is in September? My friend's son will be 4 on Sept 9th, so will he go to school next year or almost a year later when he will be 6?

Actually they live in the next town to me (they're in Maplewood) and that school district only has a part-time kindergarten in the schools so they either do a morning or afternoon session. My town, Millburn has full-time kindergarten in the schools - it's all down to the local schools' budgets.

To the O/P; If you want to get your child into a Montessori then you need to know that they are extremely popular - they are often full for most age groups for September, I know the one in Millburn is operating a wait-list. I think I've posted info for you in the past; check out St. Stephen's nursery school in Millburn as it is run by an Englishwoman. They have a Summer play scheme too which should have spaces available - and they call it 'Summer Camp'.

woodsey

Bob

depends on the school, they might take 'em, they might not, also depends if there tight with money etc....

dbj1000

Very useful Celsius. Well done.

William Shaw

Many thanks all (and Englishmum in particular).
W

Just Jenney

I found the answer to your kindergarten age question in one click after Googling the keywords "connecticut new jersey school minimum age kindergarten" and clicking on the top result, "State Kindergarten Policies: Straddling Early Learning and Early Elementary School".

About 1/3 of the way down the page is a section entitled "Kindergarten Entrance Age by State". In Connecticut, children must be 5 years old on or before January 1st; in New Jersey, on or before December 31st. The information is from 2005, so I suspect it's pretty accurate.

As for Montessori fees, that will largely depend on which school your children attend. Montessori.org has a directory where you can look up Montessori schools by zip code or state, and most of them seem to have their own websites. From there you can probably find out how much it would cost.

~ Jenney

mandpete

Each NJ school district has their own criteria for starting school, however in the majority of districts a child must be 5 on or before October 1st before starting school the following September.

Ben

I know when we were in NJ we were told the official cut off was end of December. However, if your child's birthday was after beginning of October you had to have your child assessed and apply for acceptance, and then it was up to the school district if they felt your child was capable of coping with school. Many parents didn't want this because it meant their child was very young for that particular school year. Also, if your child's birthday was between May and September (can't remember the exact dates) you could opt to have your child held back a year without having to answer to authorities about your child not being in school and you not 'homeschooling'.

nottsinCT

In CT its the year your child turns 5 they will enter, so say my son was born Dec 02 he will be going to Kindergarten next year because he was born in 02 not like UK when the school year is Sept-Aug he would have been in the next year. Please be sure to check out schools as there is some just making the cut districts here, stamford norwalk bridgeport. www.greatschools.net you can check out the stats