Whether you’re beginning your first child on their journey through school or your last, parents can save time and hassle now that kindergarten registration is available online. While useful anytime, this is extremely helpful with the recent school closures due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Parents of young children are encouraged to go online now to Baldwin County Board of Education’s website (https://www.bcbe.org/) and follow the directory to “2021 new to Baldwin County” to get registered for kindergarten.
“Due to the school closures, we don’t have a date for children to come in and do their evaluations set yet,” said Foley Elementary School Registrar Hope Solorzano. “Parents can go ahead and register their child online to get a head start, and once school resumes we’ll set a date to bring in the documents that are needed.”
Documents that will need to be brought to the school at a later date include your child’s birth certificate, social security card, and two proofs of residence. When registering online, your child’s birth certificate number will be required. Schools will also be given notification of children registered for their district, so they will have the information handy when parents bring their child in for evaluation.
“If parents do the online part before coming to the school for the evaluation, it could save about 45-minutes for them,” Solorzano said. “Even if you come to the school without first pre-registering, you’ll still have to fill everything out online once here. If you don’t have a device you can use, then you can certainly come in and use our computers. Otherwise, it’s typically easier to use your own device.”
For parents new to the area, living between municipalities, or Foley parents who are unsure which of the city’s two elementary schools your child will be attending, it’s encouraged that you go to the Baldwin County Board of Education’s website and click on parent info. Once there, you’ll find an option to put in your address and find out what school your child will be attending.
Baldwin schools will keep updating on social media and on their website as to when evaluation dates will be set. Once announced, no prior appointment is necessary.
“With everything going on, I’m happy they didn’t completely cancel registration, and that we can pre-register online and won’t have to go and wait in a big group at the schools,” said local parent Amanda Young. “I’m happy that they’re giving us an option instead of making us wait to figure everything out right before the next school year starts.”
Keep watching for kindergarten evaluation dates for local schools, and go online now to save some stress and get children pre-registered.
