Choosing a Kindergarten

Parenthood presents families with one choice after another, starting with the baby’s name and extending up to and through what kind of studies – if any – to pursue following high school.

Choosing a kindergarten is just one of many important decisions on the horizon for families whose children are four years old. 

That decision may be easy if your child is already enrolled in preschool at an elementary site in Robbinsdale Area Schools (Rdale). Preschool classes meet up to five days a week, for 2.5 hours a day, at several community schools and New Hope Learning Center. Going to kindergarten at the same site provides continuity and consistency that can be valuable to both children and their primary caregivers.

Many students benefit from attending their community school, says Jennifer Smith, principal of Neill Elementary. “Kids get to ride the bus with their best friends. From the start of their day to the end of their day, they’re with people they know,” with whom they are acquainted through play dates in the neighborhood. 

“Kindergarten is also where you make your first school friends,” says Smith, a former kindergarten teacher who emphasizes the social learning that takes place in this foundational year of school. 

“These are the friends you keep for life. Kindergarten is the foundation, where you learn to be a student.” At Neill and other schools, this learning includes an emphasis on social emotional growth: helping children identify feelings and tools that get their bodies ready to learn. 

She points out that while her daughter was admitted to an Rdale magnet school, they chose instead to enroll her in a community school so she wouldn’t have to spend an hour on the bus each day. “Kids who can walk to school are really lucky!”

Some parents, though, seek the specialized learning opportunities available in magnet schools. Three elementary magnets in Rdale begin instruction in kindergarten: FAIR School Pilgrim Lane (arts), SEA (School of Engineering and Arts), and Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion. Because seats at these schools are in high demand, prospective parents need to register students via a lottery. (If your student will start kindergarten in fall 2024, for example, you will need to register for the lottery in early 2024.) 

Smith notes that students in community schools, because they don’t self-select from throughout the district, are “what the community really looks like. It’s easier to hang out after school with kids who live near you.”