Germantown School District principals urge families to register early for 4K

Germantown School District officials urged families to register now for the district’s 4K program, saying early enrollment helps schools set staffing and classroom assignments for the coming year.

In a recorded presentation, Dr. Croat, principal at Rockfield Elementary, said 4K classrooms are ‘‘welcoming, active, and full of joyful learning,’’ noting each day begins with a short ‘‘soft start’’ of about five to ten minutes before teachers lead calendar time, songs and play‑based learning centers. ‘‘Our youngest learners are thriving in the routines with a balanced structure for learning, play and movement,’’ she said.

District leaders said the program focuses on the ‘‘whole child’’—physical, social‑emotional and academic development—and aims to give children a shared foundation before kindergarten. Mr. Barrett, principal at MacArthur Elementary, said play‑based learning drives the curriculum and helps students build listening, communication and early literacy and math skills: ‘‘First they learn to listen, communicate, ask questions, share ideas. Then we get into a lot of the literacy and math.’’

Schultz, joining from County Line Elementary, described family engagement as a team effort: ‘‘We’re a team from the front office to the teachers in the classroom to the families and even our aides…we work together to make sure to support all students and all families.’’ The district stressed open communication—phone, email or in‑person—with school secretaries and the district office for help through registration and during the school year.

Mrs. Chandelia, of Amy Bell Elementary, walked families through the registration steps, saying there is an online registration form and that schools will ask to see documents such as a birth certificate and proof of residency to verify enrollment: ‘‘There is an online portion that you want to start with… another portion of this would also be showing birth certificates and things like that within the school. We don’t keep those. We just make sure we take a look at those and then we can just verify registration and then your child gets registered for 4K.’’

Presenters said registration opened in January for 4K and 5K and encouraged early signups so the district can ‘‘have all of our staffing in place’’ and provide balanced AM and PM sections. Families were told that Amy Bell offers only a morning 4K session while the district’s other elementary schools typically offer AM or PM options depending on space.

To register, schedule tours or learn more, presenters directed families to gsdwi.org/enroll and to contact their home school’s office. The district closed by emphasizing community connection and readiness: early registration ‘‘allows us to be ready for your student on day one.’’