We look forward to your child entering Kindergarten at North Kitsap School District. It will be an adventurous year with many discoveries, learning, and friendships. We participate in a program specifically for Kindergarten called WaKIDS (Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills). WaKIDS is a process for:
- Welcoming students and their families to kindergarten.
- Assessing students' strengths.
- Discussing the characteristics of children's development and learning that will enable them to be successful in school.
No one knows your child better than you. You are an important team member that will support your child's learning and make the transition into kindergarten as smooth as possible.
WaKIDS has three components. The first component is the Family Connection, which allows families to meet with their child's kindergarten teacher at the beginning of the school year. These one-on-one meetings are intended to welcome families to school and provide a safe environment for families to speak freely with the teacher. They help families and teachers build relationships so they can work together to help children succeed in school. These meetings will occur during the first three days of school and will be non-student days for your kindergartener. Teachers will be sending an invitation in August to schedule these meetings.
The second component is the Whole Child Assessment. Teachers identify children's strengths to target support where it's needed most.
The third component is Early Learning Collaboration. This collaboration aligns the practices of early learning professionals and kindergarten teachers to support smooth transitions for children.
For more information on WaKIDS, please visit http://www.k12.wa.us/WaKIDS.