Admission to Kindergarten / Enrollment Guidelines

HSE Policy J03.01.01… “Any child who attains the age of five (5) on or before August 1 of a school year will be admitted to the kindergarten program at Hamilton Southeastern Schools. Parents may appeal to the Superintendent or designee for early entrance of students affected by the state kindergarten age requirement.”

Appeal Procedure for Early Entrance to Kindergarten:
Indiana Code 20-33-2-7… “a student must be at least five (5) years of age on August 1 of the school year to officially enroll in a kindergarten program offered by a school corporation. However, subject to subsection (c), the governing body of the school corporation may adopt a procedure affording a parent of a student who does not meet the minimum age requirement set forth in this subsection the right to appeal to the superintendent for enrollment of the student in kindergarten at an age earlier than the age set forth in this subsection.”

The appeal procedure for Hamilton Southeastern Schools allows parents to enroll their child as “early entrance to kindergarten” if they turn five (5) years of age between August 2 and on or before September 30 of the enrolling school year.  Parents will need to submit an Application for Early Entrance to Kindergarten by August 1st. The appeal process automatically grants eligibility for early entrance to kindergarten to any child who will be five (5) years of age on or before September 30 of the enrolling year as verified by an official birth certificate.

After we receive all the information, the principal from your elementary school will be in contact with you to discuss your application and they may administer a readiness assessment in April or May to determine advanced readiness skills. If you are applying in June or July, your assessment may be administered at our central office.  

A child who transfers to Hamilton Southeastern Schools from another state or country and was previously enrolled in an accredited public or private kindergarten program, is entitled to continuation of services in kindergarten. In such cases where the accredited program is a 2-year kindergarten program, the student must have been enrolled in year 2 of the program to be considered for a continuation of services under this provision.