Transition to Kindergarten
Transition to Kindergarten (TK) provides free full-day schooling for students who have not participated in a regular early childhood program. This program is designed to support students who face barriers to future school success. Students can be eligible to participate in this program the school year prior to their kindergarten year.
OSD's TK program is designed to meet the needs of students who have not had access to a regular early childhood program. Olympia School District is committed to non-competition with community-based regular early childhood programs. We invite Olympia-area providers to visit our website for more information about our program and to learn how to participate in coordinated enrollment.
Parent Information
All students deserve access to quality early childhood programming before they start kindergarten. While there are several community-based early childhood programs in Olympia, current data indicates that there is a significant number of students who are not accessing programming before they enter kindergarten.
OSD hopes to help address this need with Transition to Kindergarten. OSD’s TK program is focused on identifying children who face barriers to school success and have not had access to a regular early childhood program.
Participating students will have access to a full-day program that is comparable to regular kindergarten. The teacher and paraprofessional in the classroom will use a developmentally-appropriate curricula. Lunch and recess will be incorporated into the daily schedule, and transportation will be available for students who live in the Madison Elementary School attendance area.
Which children are eligible to attend?
Students must meet the following criteria:
Priority access will be granted to the following situations:
Community Early Childhood Providers
Olympia School District values the work our community providers do to prepare our students for kindergarten! Olympia has a diverse and flourishing group of early childhood providers that is essential for our community to function. Thank you all for the hard work that you do every day!
OSD's Transitional Kindergarten program is committed to non-competition for student attendance as one of our core beliefs. Because of this, OSD will only admit children who do not have access to a regular early childhood program into our TK program. At the same time, we must work to seek out eligible students who are unable to access a program to prepare them for kindergarten.
Washington State defines a “regular early childhood program” as follows:
“Regular early childhood program means a program that includes fifty percent or more children who do not have an IEP. Programs may include, but are not limited to, the following: Head start; early childhood education and assistance program (ECEAP); transitional kindergarten; kindergarten; preschool classes offered to an eligible prekindergarten population by the public school system; private kindergartens or preschools; group child development centers; or child care.”
Please note that home-based daycare programs are not considered to be regular early childhood programs per federal guidelines.
In order to avoid local competition, OSD will engage in coordinated enrollment with area providers. This system of coordinated enrollment will work to route interested families to the appropriate early childhood program to meet their needs. This includes both public and private community-based regular early childhood programs!
If you are interested in having your name added to our communication list for coordinated enrollment, please email [email protected].
Transition to Kindergarten Information
- OSD currently has a Transition to Kindergarten classroom located at Madison Elementary.
- The first day of TK is Monday, September 11, 2023. TK follows the district calendar for early release days and non-school days.
- Transportation is not provided for students who reside outside of the Madison Elementary School Boundaries
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