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Parents with children who will turn 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 still have time to pre-register their children for kindergarten.
The deadline to pre-register is Nov. 30 and can be done from home. Pre-registration is ideal for children who have siblings already enrolled in an elementary school and are residing at the same address. According to district staff, these children will have a better chance of being assigned to the same school through student open enrollment.
"There is a perception that the district knows who all the 4-year-olds are and we automatically enroll them for kindergarten," District spokesperson Rob Spicker said in an email. "We don't know and have no idea how many there are until they sign up. Some of those parents wait until the summer, start of school to sign their children up and do not get assigned a school of top choice, or with any of their older siblings. They get assigned to the school with a seat available."
As of Wednesday, Spicker said only 20 percent of the expected incoming kindergartners have registered, or 1,119 pre-registrations.
For those youngsters who do not have a sibling at an elementary school the parents will receive a pre-printed application and pin code to rank their preferences, which can be done online.
To pre-register parents must provide, on behalf of the child, proof a physical exam within the last 12 months, Florida certificate of immunization, proof of address, original birth certificate, Social Security card if available, custody documents if application, parent photo ID and a registration form.
The registration form can be found at leeschools.net under enrollment. There is a kindergarten pre-registration tab in the bottom right corner.
The documents can be emailed to studentenrollment@leeschools.net, submitted by fax at (239) 335-1417, or placed in the secure drop box outside the Student Enrollment Office at 2855 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers. The office is open from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.