The Application Process
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Eligibility • Application • Screening • Selection • Acceptance & Registration |
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Eligibility • Application • Screening • Selection • Acceptance & Registration |
Eligibility |
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In order to be considered for the district's Jump Start PreK program, children must
Children living in the district become eligible for the Jump Start PreK program in the year before they are eligible for Kindergarten. Age and residency must be established in the application process. Paperwork that clearly shows that your child meets these requirements must be provided as outlined below.
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January |
Community is notified about start of application process. |
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February |
Applications become available. |
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Accepting Applications |
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May |
Applicants are contacted for screening appointment. |
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May |
Children come to screening with parents. |
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June |
Program staff select children. |
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July |
Parents & guardians are informed of selections. |
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August |
Registration information must be returned.
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September |
Orientations are held and classes begin. |
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October 1st |
Every child in the class is at least four years old. |
January - The availability of applications for the program is publicized in district and local community publications. A letter is sent home to the families of every child in the district.
February - Applications become available and can be picked up from any of these locations:
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February, March, April, & May - Questions about the application process can be answered on this web site or by contacting our program office, (908) 889-0559.
Applications must be returned to the Office of State, Federal & Elementary Programs before closing time at 4 PM at the location listed on Program Office page.
May - June - Using phone number on application all parents of applicants are contacted to arrange a screening appointment for later in the month.
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Who? |
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The child must be present for this appointment and is usually brought in by a parent or guardian. At the designated time, a qualified staff person, usually one of the district's PreK teachers, will meet with your child one-on-one. At the same time, parents or guardians are asked to present any eligibility paperwork they have brought. A staff person copies paperwork for the files and answers specific questions on an individual basis. Another staff person or the screener will bring your child to the classroom for their screening. Parents usually wait in the lobby and fill out an inventory form that describes their child's interests, attitudes, and habits. The lobby area is often a very busy place during screenings and it is generally not appropriate to bring other children to this appointment. It is a time when the parents and staff really need to focus solely on the prospective prekindergarten students. |
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Typically, appointments are hosted at one of the program's elementary schools. When your appointment is scheduled you will be told where to go. When you arrive, park on a nearby street in the neighborhood and report to the school's front lobby. The screening activities for your child are usually prepared in one of the program's classrooms. On this day, classes have been canceled for this particular classroom so it can be used for screening appointments. A few similar activity tables are set up around the classroom so that several individual screenings can take place at one time. |
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The appointments are scheduled for approximately 30-40 minutes. You will need to arrive early enough to find parking on a nearby street as the schools may not have sufficient visitor parking during this time. If you miss your appointment without notifying our staff, it may not be possible to reschedule. There are always a very limited number of screening days and all time slots are usually filled in advance. Screenings run on a tight schedule and arriving on time ensures that your child will receive the full opportunity to engage in the activities that have been prepared for him or her. |
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The screening is a play-based activity period in which a well-trained and knowledgeable educator presents a set of engaging tasks and makes observations about your child's development in a variety of areas such as small and large muscle coordination and language proficiency. During this time, these educators will want your child to feel confident and successful no matter what their abilities are and will certainly help your child avoid feeling frustrated. The only preparation that your child really needs is to be well-rested and well-fed. If you have a relaxed, matter-of-fact approach toward the experience, this will be reassuring to your child. Children who are hesitant about new experiences or unfamiliar settings often warm up as soon as the play materials and toys are presented. It may be helpful to let your child know that he or she will be playing games with an adult who knows what children enjoy, like building with blocks and coloring with crayons. A relaxed, positive attitude is the best preparation! Afterward, your child will be thanked with a sticker and offered a snack when they return with their screener to the lobby. If time allows and there is a specific question, the educator who screened your child might want to talk with you briefly before you leave. |
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After all children have been screened, the PreK staff meets to review the applications and screening observation notes. Information about the number of openings for September is gathered from preliminary knowledge of revised state guidelines and funding for the upcoming year and from preliminary decisions about incoming kindergarten-age students. Tentative class lists are developed, but these do not become final until the end of June or early July when more definite information is available on the number of openings. A waiting list is maintained so that children can be added to classes in September if openings become available.
It is often a very difficult and time consuming process for the staff to select individual children with the greatest educational and financial need for the program. These educators would love to have sufficient openings for all the children who come to the screening, however they must rely upon a wealth of shared expertise to identify those youngsters who could benefit most from this program.
The range of abilities and needs among the children accepted to the program varies a great deal from year to year. Because children's abilities develop unevenly, they are often more mature in one area and less mature in another. Regardless of the reason for their selection, the children who enter the Jump Start PreK classes are always viewed as capable, growing youngsters with tremendous potential as learners. Every year, some of the top graduates from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School are our former PreK students.
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In July/August, letters will be sent to all families to inform them of whether or not their child has been accepted into the program. At this time, parents and guardians of accepted students are sent the necessary forms to register their child before the start of school in September. A district medical form must be filled out by your child's physician and all required immunizations must be completed prior to the start of classes.
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Over five years ago, the PreK classes at Brunner School were integrated with the preschool disabled classes at Brunner. Increasingly, students with disabilities are being educated with their non-disabled peers in a way that naturally encourages children to become more aware and more understanding of their differing abilities.
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Kindergarten age students can be enrolled in the PreK classes. These are students whose age makes them eligible to attend kindergarten in the district because they have turned five years old on or before October 1st. First these children must participate in the district's kindergarten screening. Following this evaluation of a child's readiness for the kindergarten program at their neighborhood school, a recommendation can be made by the school's principal to have the child considered for the PreK program as an alternative to entering Kindergarten. The child could then be screened by the PreK staff followed by a recommendation to the parents for either PreK or Kindergarten placement. With such alternatives, a recommendation is sought that will account for which setting would be most likely to provide the child with the strongest outlook for long-term success.
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Overview | Application Process | Classrooms & Curriculum | Home-School Connections | Program Office
Hope S. Swarts, Program Supervisor (908) 889-0559 |
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