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Vancouver rolls out new online kindergarten registration to avoid lineups

As of Nov. 1, parents will register online before in-person verification at their child’s school
kindergarten
Vancouver School Board staff gave the Courier a primer on the new kindergarten registration process Wednesday morning.

The Vancouver School District is rolling out a new registration process for kindergarten students effective Nov. 1 in an effort to avoid confusion among parents and streamline record keeping for district staff.

The new registration system is divided into two components, both online and in person, and runs from Nov. 1 until Jan. 31.

The online portion takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes to complete and requires parents to input information around the child’s name, birth date, country of birth, allergies, address, siblings enrolled and emergency contact information.

As that information is collected online, the system automatically tells a parent where their catchment school is. A confirmation email is sent to the parents who are then tasked with verifying that info in person after the fact.

The new system’s benefits are two-fold: it gives parents time to track down and consolidate information such as postal codes or emergency contacts, while giving school administrators an online master list to track enrolment numbers.

In the event that demand outpaces available space, in-catchment siblings will continue to receive priority placement. A random draw will then follow to determine additional placements and establish a waitlist.

Entering any of those details on Nov. 1 or Dec. 1 does not affect the process, which is specifically designed to avoid a first-come, first-served scenario that in past years saw parents lining up endlessly or camping outside of a school.

“The district moved to this from an experience years ago where people were camping out at Elsie Roy or lining up on the first day and being worried,” deputy superintendent David Nelson told the Courier. “So we said, ‘Here’s a three-month window, you complete your appreciation in there, you are in the priority period.’”

Many guidelines carry over from the previous paper process. All students registered by Jan. 31 will receive priority to attend their catchment school. Those parents who opt for Choice Programs — French Immersion, Aboriginal Focus, Montessori, Fine Arts, and Early Mandarin Bilingual — can apply beginning in mid-January. The cross-boundary application process begins Feb. 1.

“The biggest thing for me here is that we’re not spending a lot of time and resources trying to track down information that we could’ve got on the front end,” Nelson said. “That to me, will save parents and schools time.”

The online registration goes live the morning of Nov. 1. Information about the process is online HERE.

@JohnKurucz