SUFFOLK, Va. – Parents with preschool-aged children are being encouraged to register them now for kindergarten in the fall.
An initiative called Minus 9 to 5 – which works out of Eastern Virginia Medical School – helps connect medical professionals, parents and advocates working with early childhood matters.
Minus 9 to 5 has set up a central website to help parents in South Hampton Roads. It’s ReadySetRegisterHR.org. On that site, parents can click on their city and it will direct them to the school district’s page. It also offers help ordering important documents like birth certificates, which sometimes are misplaced.
Children being enrolled in kindergarten also need a physical and up-to-date immunizations.
“Especially this year with the health departments so focused on the COVID vaccines, they may not be able to do the same level of administration of vaccines for back-to-school,” said Dr. Jane Elyce Glasgow, Executive Director of Minus 9 to 5.
Glasgow says parents often don’t think about kindergarten registration in the spring and often wait until late summer.
“It impacts staffing. It impacts materials and supplies. It impacts a lot of things, and so helping school divisions know how many kindergartners will be there early really just makes it easier for everybody,” Glasgow added.
