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Early Entrance

Early-Entrance for ISD Kindergarten and First Grade 

Applications are available through the Elementary Education Department / Maya Greene - (425-837-7025). Applications are due July 12, 2024. 

The Issaquah School District is willing to work with families if they believe their child is ready for school early. To be considered for early entrance into kindergarten, a child must be five (5) years of age on or before November 30 of the year of entry. In addition, an assessment report indicating the child has met all the requirements stated below must be received by the District office no later than July 12, 2024:

  1. Mental ability
  2. Gross motor skills
  3. Fine motor skills
  4. Visual discrimination
  5. Auditory discrimination
  6. Emotional/social development
  7. Language development

A student must score at or above the 90th percentile in all seven categories above as outlined in the Early Entrance Assessment Results form before they can be invited to participate in kindergarten on a probationary basis. For more information, refer to the following:

The District does not perform the early entrance testing. A list of professionals who other Issaquah School District families have accessed is available in the Early Entrance packet. To request an Early Entrance packet contact Maya Greene / Elementary Education Department at 425-837-7025 or email greenem@issaquah.wednet.edu

Parents who choose to have their child privately tested for early entrance into kindergarten will need to provide their chosen assessor with the required district forms. In order for a child to be considered for early entrance, all required forms and assessment results must be submitted to the Executive Directors of Elementary Education Department at the ISD Administration office by July 12, 2024. Assessment results must be submitted on district-provided forms, sent directly from the assessor with the handwritten signature of the assessor.

If your child meets standard in all seven (7) categories, they will be granted a thirty (30) calendar day trial period in kindergarten. Teachers and principal will review placement during the first thirty (30) calendar days of school, and a determination for permanent admission will be made at that time.

We do encourage you to think seriously about the implications for your child’s future. School is more than just academics. Maturity and social competence are often as important to a child’s overall success as intellectual capacity. Depending on a child’s birthdate, early entrance could result in an age difference of up to two years between your child and their grade level peers. For that reason, rather than pursue early entrance some families choose to keep a child out of school for an extra year to provide an additional measure of maturity.

Early entrance into first grade

The Issaquah School District does not test children for entrance into first grade. We can accept a child into first grade who is younger than six years old by August 31 if one (1) of these two (2) conditions is met:

  1. Completion of a *State certified private kindergarten program of no less than 1,000 hours per year with a WA state certificated teacher providing the in-person classroom instruction. We also need a written statement from the teacher on school letterhead indicating the child's readiness to enter first grade. *State Board of Education/Private Schools

  2. The child has completed a kindergarten program in another state's public school system that may use a date later than Washington State's August 31 deadline for school admission.

If the building principal has reason to believe that an individual child so qualified may not succeed in the first grade program, the principal has the option of placing the child in either the kindergarten or first grade for evaluation. A final determination of the child's appropriate grade level placement will be made no later than thirty (30) calendar days from the day of placement.

If neither one of the two conditions above have been met, the student will initially be enrolled in kindergarten and start the school year out as a kindergartener. School staff, including the school principal and classroom teacher, will discuss the request to place the child in first grade. The final determination is made by the school principal. 

Responses to families are made the first couple weeks of August. If the waiver for early entrance is granted, families will be directed to work with their neighborhood school's registrar for enrollment pieces. 

For more details:

General questions and requests for required forms can be made to Maya Greene / Elementary Education Department at 425-837-7025 or email greenem@issaquah.wednet.edu.