Pre-K applications available Mar. 1

Children must be four years of age on or before September 1, 2010, in order to apply for the Pre-K program. Children who are five years of age on or before September 1, 2010, and have not attended Georgia’s Pre-K Program as a four year old, may enroll in the Pre-K program.

Parents are encouraged to consider the child’s date of birth, physical maturity, emotional maturity and prior experiences when making the decision to enroll the child in the Pre-K program at age four or five. Application information will be available online at www.barrow.k12.ga.us/elc beginning on March 1. The Pre-K application must be turned in to the Early Learning Center by the end of the day on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2010. No faxes will be accepted. A lottery number will be issued for each applicant. Any applications received after Mar. 31, will be placed on the waiting list and will not be eligible to participate in the lottery.

Completion of an application does not guarantee that a child will be enrolled, but places the child on the list for the lottery for 2010-2011. Lottery drawings will be held to determine class lists and waiting lists for the classes. A separate drawing will be held for each elementary attendance zone.

These drawings, which are open to the public, will be held on Friday, Apr. 9 at the Barrow County Schools Early Learning Center from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

The Barrow County School System currently has one Pre-K classroom for each of the eight elementary schools and five combination classes. The first 20 students drawn in the lottery from each elementary school attendance zone will be in the class for that attendance zone. The next ten students drawn will be in a combo class.

Combo Class A will be composed of students from Auburn and Kennedy attendance zones. Combo Class B will be composed of students from Holsenbeck and Statham attendance zones. Combo Class C will be composed of students from Bramlett and County Line attendance zones. Combo Class D will be composed of students from Bethlehem and Yargo attendance zones. Combo E will be composed of the top two students from each of the elementary school class waiting lists at that time. This will provide 16 students for the class of 20 students. The next four students will be pulled from the number three slot on the elementary school class waiting lists at that time. The four openings will be offered to students on the school waiting list in alphabetical order by elementary school. Enrollment is limited to twenty students per class.

All Pre-K classes are located at the Barrow County Schools Early Learning Center and follow the Barrow County Schools calendar. Pre-K hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Bus transportation is provided. Both breakfast and lunch will be available. Pre-K Open Enrollment Guidelines with more complete details on the Pre-K program will be available at the Early Learning Center during the Pre-K application period.