1. Do contact the District Superintendent office Via E-mail. Today.
Explain your situation in detail.

2. CC this letter to the to your local school principal. Include a copy of your child’s report card, showing that your child has already taken and passed kindergarten. Explain that you feel your child will “burn out” or become bored and lose interest in school if forced to repeat skills already mastered.

While you are waiting for the school to respond familiarize yourself with the state Department of Education website.

3. If the school or the district does not respond to the E-mail in a day or two, write a second letter and attach the original letter to the second letter. Fax this copy (both letters) to both the school and the district offices. Request a response, explaining that this situation should be resolved before the start of school. I think 2 days is enough time for the school to respond, via E-mail

4. Since the school year is fast approaching; I recommend that you print a copy of your letters and hand deliver these to the offices by this coming Friday. Be nice and dress like a professional when you go to the school. Remember, Administrators are well paid and will offer more respect if you dress like they do. Be very polite to the office staff, as they can be quite useful allies.

5. Now that you have made an official request, you can contact the State Department of Education if you do not get a satisfactory response from the school or district.

Write a letter explaining that you have been trying to work with your school district. Be sure to attach all the copies of your letters and any response the school or district may have written. You might be able to do all of this via e-mail.

Don't wait too long as the school year is short and districts are known for dragging their feet. Do not let them run the clock out on your child!

Do let us Know the outcome

Mr Speakerwire
Parent

Thanks to Papertrail and Healthy11
The Montessori school in the area will not take a student above 5 without previous Montessori training. other private schools are saying they follow the public school guidelines, plus their costs are out of reach for the family.

The principal has already been contacted in person, via email, and by phone, by the parents. The teacher has called as well. Report cards and other paperwork / samples of writings, etc. have been given. The local superintendent has denied the request and has even stated that even if the assessment showed superior results, the age ruling would be honored. The state commissioner also has denied the request.

The cut-off date in CT is January 1st. In MA, it is August 31st. They even would send a child back a grade if s/he moved mid-year. (Completed 6 months of grade one in CT, then moved to MA in February...would be bumped back to Kindergarten.) I guess they can not set a new policy / have already dealt with similar issue in another MA town.
www.wickedlocal.com/needham/homepage/x2052197717

Could the parents homeschool for 1st grade, and then would the same age cutoff rules apply for a child entering 2nd grade in the public school?

Both parents work, and the child really wants to go to school with other children, not home-schooled. The age cut-off does not apply to 2nd grade. "Upon successful completion of grade one" is the language.

I still think they could consider an independent school, especially if it's only for a year; there are ways to apply for financial aid. (If their child is in a half-day kinder program, they'd have to pay more for daycare the other part of the day, anyway.)
transact.nais.org/Membership/MemberDirectorySearch.aspx

I agree with the idea to attend private school for a year. They are considering it, but it sure is unfair that there are not plans or policies in place to deal with out of state transfers, and special circumstances.

I know exceptions to the cutoff date have been made where I live, in IL. I also know some Montessori schools are more "nit-picky" about the age limit than others....could they see if another Montessori school in a neighboring community was as steadfast about not accepting new students beyond age 5?

I think they have reached a dead-end in that regard.

I live in MA and my community has a Sept 30 cut off (must be 5 by 9/30 to start K). But, when kids from communities with later cutoffs transfer in, if they've completed Kindergarten, they are able to move on to 1st grade. The cut off dates vary across the state, typically ranging from Sept 30 to Dec 31.

I'm surprised that they weren't able to find a private school that would accept the daughter. When my kids were that age, there were private schools that accepted younger kids. What city/town are they moving to?

The community they are moving to has an August 31st cut-off which applies to Kindergarten AND Grade One. But after that, age is not a consideration for out of state transfers to Grade Two. The town is Natick or Needham. What town are you from?
See this article concerning a Metco child: www.wickedlocal.com/needham/homepage/x2052197717

I'm from a town on the Boston's North Shore - North East of Needham and Natick.

Sounds like Needham's policy is hard and fast. Assuming that Natick's is also very strict, they have the option of moving to a district that would be more flexible or finding a private school. There are many private and parochial schools in the Metro-West area. I find it hard to believe that they all have an August 31 cut off.

Towns to consider: Wellesly, Sudbury, Concord, Lincoln, Waltham, Framingham, Westwood, Acton, Newton.

Hello,
I am sorry to hear about your child repeating, but I hope you and the other parents will continue to harrase the principals, teachers at that school, because some of the other parents probably would love to have the other classes but never though about approaching the subject. My son was held back in 7th grade because the school felt he was too young to enter high school. It didn't help his self esteem at all. So continue to fight for your child.

Nana1 - I agree that grade retention generally causes more harm than good, and there is a lot of data that supports this.

But, I think this case is a bit different - less about "retention" due to academic or social issues and more about an age level standard.

If the family wants to make a policy change, I would suggest that they petition the school committee since they are the group that make policy. (They may also be agreeable to give an exemption). Principals are charged with providing input to policy and enforcing the rules, but not creating district wide policy.

To get a change in place, the family must work fast. Chances are, the Committee may meet only one more time before the start of the school year.

thanks for all your feedback everybody. I have passed on all your comments to the family. Since I am not a relative, there is not much more I can do, other than contacting once again, the school board. schoolcommittee@needham.k12.ma.us

by all means, do so.

In RI, it can be appealed. I would...especially if the academics warrant it!

You don't specify who 'they' is. Have you worked your way up the chain of command to the school board and the true final decision maker? You also haven't mentioned if you've gone beyond the city/county level upward towards the state level of administration. Have you gotten a lawyer involved? If your child has a valid report card from kindergarten, then you do have some power, because otherwise that not really different from requiring a 6th grader to repeat 6th grade just because they have to be a certain age by a certain time.

The parents have contacted the local superintendent and members of the school board. They are now saying they may review their policies but it will not be in time for this child.

It seems to me that even if they change their policy a month or two from now, they should consider "skipping" the child ahead at that time...Is there any way the parents could obtain whatever "books" or curriculum guidelines the first grade students use, so their daughter could be prepared and make a smooth transition?

To work with a situation like this, you need to know someone but not within the public sector. Someone needs to know an admissions counselor at a private school in Massachusetts. Private schools easily can and often will bend their rules when asked to do so by someone in the inner circle. Ask all your friends and acquaintances and ask every teacher you know who they know working at an independent school in Massachusetts in the area where this family lives.
Otherwise, what can anyone do? What can you do but wish this family warmly well and advise them to look into afternoon classes and enrichment programs or outright homeschool the child and connect with the many - there are many - other homeschooling families in their area.

One more thought - have her start the year in Connecticut firmly in 1st grade. If she does that and spends a few more weeks in 1st, they won't bump her back to K in Massachusetts.
The family would have to make up some fib to cover their tracks on this. I'd say "The job transfer became uncertain and so Mom and Mary decided to remain in CT but now it is written in stone and Mary's here and just completed her first four weeks of 1st grade and with flying colors. Do you mean to say you will still take this child and demote her to a half-day K??? How do I explain that to her??
And then I'd hint that I have to consult with an educational attorney - I hate that hint but sometimes it has to be dropped.
Good luck.

Well it really is sad to say, but if you do know someone of higher influence in the system it surely would help to get your child in at her level. I know school is about to start so I hope she gets in at her level

This discussion is very interesting and is exactly what has happened to a family member moving to MA. The parents have done everything suggested in this discussion, other than the educational attorney, with no luck. Even staying in CT for part of the year would not help according to officials. The superintendent and the state commissioner, have been contacted. They say they may review their policies this year, but that will be too late for this little girl.

This is so unfair for the child as well as the parents. You would think the school would love to have a child that advanced in her studies.
I will continue to pray for the school system as a whole that the powers that be will relinquish their hold on these so called "rules". I realize the each state and school district has different requirements, but I also know some of those requirements have be overlooked for one reason or another.
If a child who is in the first grade but reading the second grade level, that should be given some consideration.
Stay prayful

Yes the child I speak of would excel in her former CT school as a grade one student. As of June, her reading ability was well past mid -grade one levels already. To go into a half day Kindergarten is not fair. Perhaps if more parents from this board spoke up.....