When the Windsor Public Schools open its doors this August, Kindergarten will be a full-day program for all students. The Kindergarten classes will be located at Oliver Ellsworth Primary School and at Poquonock Primary School, depending upon the child’s home address. Windsor’s full-day Kindergarten program is part of the district’s new reorganization of all of its schools and includes Elementary Consolidation and Grade Reconfiguration of the pre-Kindergarten through elementary grades.
Registration begins March 1 for children who are eligible to attend Kindergarten in the Windsor Public Schools, beginning in August 2012. To be eligible, a child must have been 5 years old ON or BEFORE January 1, 2013.
Registration for Kindergarten is by appointment only and will be in the Central Registration Office of the Windsor Board of Education, located at LP Wilson Community Center at 601 Matianuck Ave., Room 8. To make an appointment, call (860) 687-2000, ext. 263 as soon as possible.
Kindergarten registration packets were mailed on February 16 to families with children who are currently registered in Windsor preschools.
Any Windsor parents or guardians who have not received Kindergarten registration materials should call the Windsor Public Schools’ Central Registration Office at (860) 687-2000, ext. 263, as soon as possible.
To register a child for Kindergarten, you must:
1) Be the child's parent or legal guardian.
2) Bring all of the following documents with you (No child will be registered without these):
a) Completed Registration Form – can be picked up in advance or requested when they call for the appointment;
b) Official Birth Certificate (long form);
c) Guardianship Papers (if applicable);
d) Proof of Residence – can be a copy of a lease agreement and one utility bill, or a mortgage agreement/statement and one utility bill; and
e) Certificate of Residency form for the parent and child IF they do not own or rent their own house or apartment and instead live with another family. Ask for this form when you call for your registration appointment.
The establishment of the full-day Kindergarten program is part of the Windsor Public Schools’ reorganization of all of the district’s schools and is the result of an intensive two-year community-based process that included a series of education and community forums and workshops. The new structure of the Windsor Public Schools is:
- Oliver Ellsworth Primary School – Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2 (students will move onto Kennedy);
- Poquonock Primary School – Kindergarten thru Grade 2 (students will move onto Clover);
- Clover Street Intermediate School – Grades 3 through Grade 5;
- John F. Kennedy Immediate School – Grades 3 through Grade 5;
- Sage Park Middle School – remains Grades 6-8; and
- Windsor High School – remains Grades 9-12.
For the 2012-2013 year, the Roger Wolcott Early Childhood Center will not be in use as a school.
In 2010, with declining enrollment projected into the future, the Windsor Board of Education commissioned a study and formed a Windsor Elementary Schools Task Force to determine the most efficient use and allocation of resources for the elementary schools. The Windsor Elementary Schools Task Force was made up of parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and Board of Education members. Chaired by Tim Curtis, a former member of the Windsor Board of Education and Windsor Town Council, that committee was charged with proposing options and recommendations for the future design and use of the elementary schools. To assist the Task Force and guide its work, the Board hired the architectural firm of Drummey, Rosane, Anderson, Inc. (DRA), which facilitated the community workshops.
The Task Force conducted an in-depth review of facilities and options for configuration, with implications on the budget, educational programs, and families. Their intensive project included program interviews with staff and administration, community workshops where they listened to the ideas and concerns of parents and other town residents, and shared information about options for configuring the elementary schools.
The study considered forecasted demographics, capacity of existing schools and the feasibility of offering full-day kindergarten for all students, and proposed a range of options to the Board that included alternatives to the current grade configuration. It examined the implications of the options on the budget, educational programs and families. It then investigated, and later approved, the Task Force’s recommended Option G – implementation of full-day kindergarten, consolidation of schools into four buildings and a grade reconfiguration of Pre-K to Grade 2, and Grades 3 to 5. That is the plan that the schools will implement this coming school year.
For more information about registering a child in Kindergarten or any grade of the Windsor Public Schools, please call the Windsor Public Schools’ Central Registration Office at (860) 687-2000, ext. 263 or visit www.windsorct.org.
