Kindergarten

• Your child shows awareness of language sounds (e.g., rhyming, hearing the beginning sounds of words, and identifying sound patterns)
• Your child is able to recognize and name as many as 10 letters, especially those in his or her own name
• Your child is learning how to identify the sounds of a few letters
• Your child understands that signs and labels convey information
• Your child can memorize or participate in reading poems and familiar books
• Your child can correctly hold a book, turn the pages, and is able to pretend to read, using some of the language from the text, and using pictures to order the events
• Your child is able to retell some events from a familiar story when prompted by an adult
• Your child is able to write some letters correctly and attempts to convey meaning with words and pictures

• Your child is able to count to 20
• Your child is able to count up to 10 objects when asked “how many?”
• Your child is able to match a number with a group of objects, "That's a 3 and there are three puppies on this page."
• Your child is beginning to understand and use measurement words (big, small, tall, short, heavy, full, long)
• Your child is able to match, sort and name some simple shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle)

• Your child is beginning to manage rules, routines, and transitions with occasional reminders
• Your child is able to take turns and function appropriately in groups
• Your child is able to focus on a task for at least 5 minutes
• Your child is able to follow 2-step directions
• Your child is able to work independently
• Your child is able to take care of dressing, hygiene and toileting needs
• Your child is able to recognize and manage their emotions

• Your child continually learns new words and is expanding his or her verbal vocabulary
• Your child is able to speak in complete sentences
• Your child is able to speak clearly to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas, including descriptions of familiar people, places, things, and events
• Your child is able to take turns speaking and listening in short conversations, remembering and responding to what is said
• Your child is able to ask simple questions to get their needs met or better understand concepts or directions

Thinking and Reasoning:

• Your child is starting to solve problems (puts the big block down first so the tower won't fall)
• Your child is eager to learn and talk about a range of topics, ideas, tasks, likes and dislikes
• Your child is able to engage in pretend and inventive play (make a tent with a towel, pretend to be a teacher, cook, builder, doctor, bus driver)
• Your child is able to remember and name at least one or two objects that are taken away while playing, "What's missing?"
• Your child can group objects by using a single characteristic such as shape, size, or color (puts all the blue things together)
• Your child can group objects that go together (shoe and sock, paper and pencil)

Fine Motor:

• Your child is able to use scissors
• Your child is able to use writing tools to copy, trace and/or draw letters, numbers or shapes
• Your child is able to write or copy own name

Gross Motor:

• Your child is getting better at movement skills, such as jumping, galloping and skipping
• Your child is able to throw a ball

Kindergarten Readiness List | Spanish | Chinese | Vietnamese | Arabic | Russian

The application requires an upload of a verification of birth (birth certificate or passport). To apply for kindergarten early entrance please click the button below once the application is live until June 7, 2024.

Kindergarten Early Entrance Application

Only children who will turn five years old between September 1-30, 2023 are eligible, per School Board Policy 3110. 

Washington State has a uniform entry age for kindergarten (WAC 392-335-010) which states a child must be five years of age as of midnight August 31 of the year of entry to be entitled to enter kindergarten. The only exception  is our School Board Policy 3110 which allows for a special exemption and consideration to be made for students “who appear to be sufficiently advanced to succeed in the educational program.” In the Renton School District, this is determined by our Early Entrance assessment.

The 2023 kindergarten early entrance testing will be in-person and in alignment with Public Health's COVID-19 safety protocols.

Because of School Board Policy 3110, it is our job to determine if students are “sufficiently advanced to succeed in the educational program.”  This is important because we want to ensure students start their school career successfully.  Additionally, recent research suggests that students who start school early often have difficulty with self-regulation, inattention, and hyperactivity (Dee & Sievertsen, 2015, Stocking, 2015)

Every child is different, so it takes different lengths of time to complete the assessment.  Students who complete the assessment quickly qualify as often as students who take more time to complete it.  Every child is asked the same questions during the assessment.

Please do not let your child know that the results of the assessment will determine if they go to kindergarten.  You do not want to put undue stress on them.  Additionally, a relatively low percentage of students qualify for Early Entrance to Kindergarten, and it is difficult for kids to get their hopes up only to find out they didn’t qualify.

There is NO appeal to the Early Entrance assessment.  All decisions are final, and are made in the best interest of student success.  If your child does not qualify, they will need to wait until the next school year to begin kindergarten.

The district does have a pre-school program Meadow Crest Early Learning Center.

We do not accept outside evaluations to determine if a child qualifies for Early Entrance.  The only consideration is the Early Entrance assessment given by Renton School District. 

There is no retesting process. Children who do not qualify for early entrance will need to wait until the next school year to begin Kindergarten.

The district does have a pre-school program Meadow Crest Early Learning Center.