Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 2, 1993 TAG: 9303020079
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
TIME IS NOW TO THINK ABOUT KINDERGARTEN
Many New River Valley schools are preparing to register children for kindergarten for the next school year. Last year, if your child was not 5 years old by Sept. 30, but would turn five by Oct. 31, you could request special testing to allow your child to enter kindergarten early.This year, however, a state law says if your child is not 5 by Sept. 30, you must wait another year to enroll your child. Testing for early admittance is no longer an option, even if your child's birthday is soon after the deadline.
"This isn't a new law, the law was passed in 1990," said Jo Bunce, division chief of early childhood development at the Virginia State Department of Education. "We started going in this direction in 1990," Bunce said, moving the registration deadline back by a month each year. Next school year is the first that the deadline will be final, with no early entries.
"This was done for the benefit of the children," said Janet Sawyers, director of the Virginia Tech Lab School, a child-care program on the campus. "In the earlier ages, we were seeing more problems in the children, many of them were in the remedial classes. The expectations of kindergarten are not appropriate for the younger ones."
Sawyers said some parents may be upset over the new law, especially because of the added cost of child care.
"Because of economics, we tend to overlook the long-term effects" of pushing children into kindergarten too young, she said.
Claire Waldron has a daughter who will enter kindergarten next school year. Although her daughter is not affected by the new law, Waldron's older daughter would have been.
"We probably could have had her tested, but we didn't and we're really pleased," Waldron said. "She wasn't ready."
Waldron said she understands why some parents may be upset over the new law.
"It can affect them financially because it means another year of child care," she said. "That's the kind of thing you need to think of ahead of time, and look at keeping the best interests of the child in mind."
For further information about the new law, call Bunce at the Virginia State Department of Education at 804-225-2865. Or call your local county director of elementary education.
Kindergarten registration for\ RADFORD CITY SCHOOLS will be held March 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the McHarg Elementary School Library.
Bring a physical examination that was done within a year of the opening of school, the child's immunization record, original birth certificate and Social Security card.
\ GILES COUNTY kindergarten registration will be held at the following times and locations:
\ Macy McClaugherty: April 2, 9:15 a.m.-2 p.m.
\ Narrows Elementary: April 6, 9:15 a.m.-2 p.m.
\ Eastern Elementary: April 7, 9:15 a.m.-noon.
The\ CHRISTIANSBURG HIGH SCHOOL Demon Booster Club will hold its regular meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the boys' health room. For further information, call 382-1834.
The high school Band Boosters will meet March 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the band room. For further information, call 382-6521.
A\ 4-H PERFORMING ARTS SHOW will be held Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Auburn High School. Youth ages 5 to 18 will perform dance, drama, vocal, instrumental, combination and variety acts. The theme of the show is "4-H for a Better Tomorrow."
Admission to the show is a can of food for the needy. For further information, or to join 4-H, call 382-5790.
\ CHRISTIANSBURG ELEMENTARY AND FALLING BRANCH ELEMENTARY school pupils will exhibit their artwork three times this month. Christiansburg High School will hold an exhibit March 16, and two exhibits will continue throughout the month at the New River Valley Mall and at the Montgomery County School Board office on Junkin Street in Christiansburg.
An\ ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR will be held at Narrows Elementary School Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The show is sponsored by the Narrows Seventh Graders.
Concessions will be available all day. The proceeds will go to the seventh-grade class.
\ PARENTS ADVOCATING GIFTED EDUCATION will meet March 9 at 7 p.m. at the Falling Branch Elementary School cafeteria.
The speaker will be Deborah Inman, counselor of the Roanoke Valley Governor's School. The topic will be "Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Students."
For further information, call 552-6039.
The\ BLACKSBURG NEW SCHOOL will hold a silent auction to raise funds for computers, books and science equipment, Friday beginning at 6 p.m.
Items to be auctioned include appliances, art work, donations from local businesses and special services.
The school is at 1600 Whipple Drive. For further information, call 552-6693.
Parent-Teacher conferences will be held Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at\ JOHN DALTON INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL.
For further information, call 731-3651.
Art students at\ CHRISTIANSBURG HIGH SCHOOL recently participated in Ferrum College's "Up and Coming High School Art Competition." This juried show contains more than 300 entries from schools all over the state. Only half of those entries are accepted.
Jason Gabris, Eric Childress, Steve Marder, Jammie Spradlin and Jill Johnson had work chosen for the exhibition.
Eric Childress won second place for his sculpture and Jill Johnson received an award for excellence in her pastel drawing.
Other students attending the show were Matt Linkous, Rachel Keene, Brady Stevens, Matt Dowdy, Chris Whytal and art teacher Pam Taylor.
Two classes at\ RINER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL got together last month to draw a life-sized blue whale on the hardtop behind the school building. The event was part of an effort to learn more about whales and help adopt Crystal, a humpback whale living near Provincetown, Mass.
While drawing the whale, the pupils learned it takes 82 children standing shoulder to shoulder to match the size of a whale.
\ DRAPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL recently received a face-lift with flower beds, donated trees and a paved parking lot. This is the result of a collaborative effort among parent volunteers Sheila Brown, Gail Ferrell, Deborah Piscura and Brenda Kesling.
They decided the school needed to be enhanced and started in the fall of 1991 by sending letters to parents and community businesses for donations. The result is trees planted around three sides of the school with a plaque naming the donor, surrounded by railroad ties.
As the project became more popular, the Parent-Teacher Association became involved, raising even more money for the flower beds and cleanup of the playground. Now parents and teachers are working on further projects, hoping to plant additional shrubs and even construct a greenhouse.
Radford University's\ ECONOMIC EDUCATION CENTER is sponsoring a program to help public school teachers teach money management and other economic skills to their students.
In association with the Virginia Council on Economic Education in Richmond, which provides materials and other resources, the center helps younger students focus on the basics of saving money and how the economy works. It also teaches teachers how to incorporate economics and money management into their curriculum.
For further information about the center, call 831-5885 or 831-5890.