Our kinder orientation program is evolving at Stratford Landing, and I wanted to ensure our community was clear on our new changes and updates to how we welcome new kinder students to Stratford Landing. These changes are for the next year and school years to come. 

We will host four kinder specific events April through August. These events are in addition to your student registration appointment with Ms. Rakes.

Kindergarten Student Orientation

Formerly our summer “Kindergarten Jump Start”, this is an opportunity for your student to visit a kindergarten classroom. During this event, your child will participate in a morning meeting, complete a kindergarten activity and SLES teachers will check for student letter/sound and number recognition. This is a student only event, and families will drop their student off and pick them up. This student orientation will take place in the spring of the current school year. For this year, our new Kindergarten Student Orientation is scheduled for April 2, 2024. See the flyer below.

Kindergarten Family Orientation

Families of incoming kindergarten students may join for an orientation presentation from our kindergarten teachers. This event is for adults only. The family orientation will take place in the spring of the current school year.  For this year, our Kindergarten Family Orientation is scheduled for April 9, 2024. See the flyer below.

Kindergarten Playground Playdate 

Stratford Landing Administration will organize a new kindergarten student playground playdate during the summer before the start of the new school year. Additionally, our SLES Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) may host events for families to attend in the summer.

Kindergarten “Early Access” for Stratford Landing’s Welcome Back to School Open House

Before the start of each school year, Stratford Landing hosts an open house for all students and families. This is always scheduled the week before the first day of the school year. Families and students visit the school, see their classrooms, meet their new teachers and visit former teachers and their friends. Our kindergarten families will have early access that will begin one hour prior to the start of the open house.

Student Registration Appointment 

In addition to these changes, we are asking families bring their kindergarten student to their registration appointment with Ms. Rakes. While Ms. Rakes is working with the family, a SLES staff member will provide a brief letter/number assessment to help inform our class placements for incoming kinders. It is important to note, we do not build kindergarten classrooms based on abilities of students, meaning there is no such thing as a “high, medium or low” class at Stratford Landing. Instead, we use this assessment data to ensure we create balanced, equitable class groupings that set our little dolphins up for success.

If you have any questions on our new kindergarten orientation approach for students and families at Stratford Landing, please contact me directly at @email.