New Registration Guidance for the 2020-2021 School Year

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to the original registration process have been modified into two categories:

1) Parents who received a seat through the online lottery process and

2) Parents who did not participate in the online lottery.

Category 1: Parents, who received a seat through the online lottery process, may submit the remaining documents that were not required to enter into the lottery platform via email. The school’s registration designee will pull the documents from the lottery platform and combine them with the remaining documents received via email for collection and verification prior to Infinite Campus input. On August 10, 2020 the Office of Early Childhood notified lottery awardees via email that they should expect communication from the local school indicating the email address to send the required additional documents.

Category 2: Parents who did not participate in the online lottery, submitted a wait list application, or are new applicants, will register their child using the Online Registration (OLR) platform. The Roster Information form is not part of the OLR platform and will be provided electronically to registrants to complete once the school makes contact. Applications received through OLR will not automatically receive a seat because the school must verify if a seat is available. If a seat is not available, the child will be placed on the wait list in the order they were received. Note: During the summer, some Pre-K OLR applicants received an email sharing that their application could not be accepted. A parent will simply need to submit proof of the OLR rejection email for the application to be reinstated and placed on the wait list.

The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is honored to offer 114 lottery funded Georgia Pre-Kindergarten Program classes in 75 sites throughout the district. The Pre-Kindergarten program is funded by the Georgia State Lottery, governed by Bright from the Start. The DCSD Pre-K program is an age appropriate instructional program that prepares students for a successful transition to kindergarten and beyond. In order for a child to be school ready, it means they are socially, emotionally, physically, and cognitively prepared for success in kindergarten.

The DeKalb County School District’s Pre-Kindergarten Program helps children become independent, self-confident, enthusiastic learners. Participation in the program encourages children to develop good habits and daily routines. It encourages teachers to adopt child centered instructional practices based on the interests and the skill levels of each child.

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Items from Home to Enrich the Pre-K Classroom

Online Application Registration Process

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Steps in the Pre-K Lottery Process

  1. Apply on-line for a Pre-K seat.
  2. Upload required documents.
  3. Check your email and or Parent electronic dash for notification.
  4. Accept or Decline your seat.
  5. If accepted, take required documents to your assigned school during the Enrollment Window – May 5-19, 2020.
  6. If you were placed on a Waitlist, monitor your email closely for seat assignment possibility and further directions.
  7. Children will not be formally enrolled in the Pre-kindergarten program until parents/and or guardians have completed the registration process. Children who do not attend the first day of school before 10 AM will forfeit their space in the Pre-K class.

Documents Needed for Pre-K

Documents are required to be uploaded during the on-line application process and presented during the Enrollment Window – May 5-19, 2020 at your assigned school:

  • Proof of birth (Your child must be four years old on or before September 1, 2020)
    Original certified birth certificate, Hospital Record of Live Birth, Green Card, Pink Card or Federal I-94 Card; or child’s passport (Copies of these documents are not accepted).
  • Proof of legal guardianship (If applicable)
    Only required if your name is not on the child’s birth certificate.
  • Parent/Guardian proof of identification
    Valid state or government issued photo ID, such as a Georgia Driver’s license, or a valid U.S. passport ID.
  • Proof of Parent/Guardian Georgia Residency*
    Mortgage or lease/rental agreement in your name, OR an electric, gas, or water bill in your name, cable and phone bills are not acceptable.

    *If you are living with someone and you do not have a lease, mortgage or utility bill in your name, you must submit the following: A signed and notarized Affidavit of Residency AND a lease/mortgage statement or utility bill in the name of the person that you are living with AND a form of mail in the name of the child’s guardian showing a matching address to the affidavit.

If you receive electronic notification that your child’s name was selected, then you must accept the seat online and present the original documents that were uploaded (above) AND the following documents (below) during the enrollment window – May 5-19, 2020 at your assigned school.
  • Child’s original Social Security Card OR “Waiver”
    If a waiver is needed, it will be provided to you during the enrollment session.
  • Child’s Peachcare card, Medicaid card, health insurance card, EBT card (food stamps) and/or TANF (If
    applicable)
  • Immunization Certificate (3231)
  • Vision, Hearing, Nutrition, and Dental Screening Certificate (3300)
    Pre-K seat assignments are contingent upon validation of required documents.

Covid 19 Online Registration Process

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Due to Covid-19, the enrollment window has been modified to an online registration process until schools reopen. All documents are now being accepted electronically. You may email all documentation to your school’s registration designee. If you are unsure of who your school’s registration designee is, please contact your local school.

  • Proof of birth (Your child must be four years old on or before September 1, 2020)
    Original certified birth certificate, Hospital Record of Live Birth, Green Card, Pink Card or Federal I-94 Card; or child’s passport (Copies of these documents are not accepted).
  • Proof of legal guardianship (If applicable)
    Only required if your name is not on the child’s birth certificate.
  • Parent/Guardian proof of identification
    Valid state or government issued photo ID, such as a Georgia Driver’s license, or a valid U.S. passport ID.
  • Proof of Parent/Guardian Georgia Residency*
    Mortgage or lease/rental agreement in your name, OR an electric, gas, or water bill in your name, cable and phone bills are not acceptable.

* Students who live with their parents or legal guardians, but reside in the home of another adult, and are seeking enrollment in a DeKalb County school, must complete a Residency Affidavit form.

Please Note: During this COVID-19 closure period, families requiring a Residency Affidavit may complete and upload the form using the following guidelines:

  1. Parent/Guardian must complete pages 2 & 3 of the form and have it notarized.
  2. Homeowner must complete and sign page 4 of the form. Page 4 DOES NOT need to be signed in the presence of a school official.
  3. Page 5 DOES NOT need to be completed at this time.
  4. Submit the completed form (and all other required documents for proof of residency) via email to the school designee. If you are not sure who the school’s designee is, please contact the school.

Due to COVID-19, the enrollment window has been modified to accept all documents electronically until schools reopen.

  • Child’s original Social Security Card OR “Waiver”
    If a waiver is needed, it will be provided to you during the registration process.
  • Child’s Peachcare card, Medicaid card, health insurance card, EBT card (food stamps) and/or TANF (If applicable)
  • Immunization Certificate (3231)
  • Vision, Hearing, Nutrition, and Dental Screening Certificate (3300)
  • Due to COVID-19, parents/guardians have 30 days to submit the 3231 document and 90 days to submit the 3300 document by emailing the school designee.

    Pre-K seat assignments are contingent upon validation of required documents.

Pre-Kindergarten Application

New Registration Guidance for the 2020-2021 School Year

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to the original registration process have been modified into two categories:

1) Parents who received a seat through the online lottery process and

2) Parents who did not participate in the online lottery.

Category 1: Parents, who received a seat through the online lottery process, may submit the remaining documents that were not required to enter into the lottery platform via email. The school’s registration designee will pull the documents from the lottery platform and combine them with the remaining documents received via email for collection and verification prior to Infinite Campus input. On August 10, 2020 the Office of Early Childhood notified lottery awardees via email that they should expect communication from the local school indicating the email address to send the required additional documents.

Category 2: Parents who did not participate in the online lottery, submitted a wait list application, or are new applicants, will register their child using the Online Registration (OLR) platform. The Roster Information form is not part of the OLR platform and will be provided electronically to registrants to complete once the school makes contact. Applications received through OLR will not automatically receive a seat because the school must verify if a seat is available. If a seat is not available, the child will be placed on the wait list in the order they were received. Note: During the summer, some Pre-K OLR applicants received an email sharing that their application could not be accepted. A parent will simply need to submit proof of the OLR rejection email for the application to be reinstated and placed on the wait list.

Thank you for your interest in applying for Pre-K in the DeKalb County School District. At this time, the application window for the 2020-2021 school year has now closed. Wait list applications will be accepted at the local school, once they re-open, for residents in the local school zone with the appropriate documents. Please access the Online Registration Process and FAQ’s tabs on this site for documents required to enter Pre-K. Additionally, you can access the school locator to find your local elementary school.

Please note some schools do not have a wait list and have seats available for the 2020-2021 school year. Once the schools re-open, please call your local school to inquire if they have available seats for the upcoming year. Please feel free to complete and print the 2020-2021 DCSD Pre-Kindergarten Wait List application below to deliver to your local school or you may go to the local school and ask for a wait list application, once they re-open.

2020-2021 Pre-K Wait List Application

Thank you again for your interest in the DeKalb County School District Pre-K Lottery.

Covid 19 FAQ

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2020-2021 Pre-K Online Lottery Participants

This section provides information to parents/guardians who participated in the 2020-2021 online
lottery process and were notified of receiving a seat or placed on the waitlist. Be sure to read the last
section titled, Important Information for All.

If your child was awarded a seat in the lottery, your school will be contacting you shortly. The school
may require a document to be resent if it was unreadable or out of date. Additionally, the school will
request that the remaining documents be sent electronically via email. The remaining document list
was sent to all parents/guardians after the lottery and once again June 30, 2020 but can be easily
accessed on the Pre-K district website at: www.dekalbschoolsga.org/pre-k for reference.

Any student who was not selected for a lottery seat is automatically placed on the wait list. The system
numerically orders students on the wait list. An email was sent to notify the parent/guardian of the
child’s placement on the wait list. As seats are declined or forfeited, the school will notify the next
family on the wait list. At that time, you will be required to complete the next steps to secure your
child’s seat. The school will identify the registration designee and reach out to the parent/guardian
with instructions for the documents to be sent electronically via email.

New Applicants Who Did Not Participate in the 2020-2021 Pre-K Online Lottery

This section provides information to parents/guardians who were not able to participate in the 2020-
2021 online lottery process and /or sent a wait list application to the local school. Be sure to read the
last section titled, Important Information for All.

Begin by reaching out to the school to see if there is an available seat. If there is an open seat, please
proceed to the next question. If they do not have available seats, you are welcome to fill out a wait list
application and send electronically via email to the school’s registration designee. If you are not sure
who the school’s registration designee is, please contact the school. The wait list application can be
found at the bottom of the page, under the “Apply Now” tab, on the district Pre-K website.
www.dekalbschoolsga.org/pre-k

Complete the 2020-2021 New Student Registration Application virtually by clicking on the following
link https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/online-registration/new-students/.

Your local school will contact you to share information pertaining to documents that are required to
complete the registration process.

A comprehensive list of all required documents can be found by clicking on the “Lottery Process” tab
found on the following link https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/pre-k/.

Important Information for All

This section provides information to everyone.

DCSD policy states that a child must have their Health Immunization form 3231 on file within 30 days
of the child starting school or the expiration date. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, please email your
school if you run into difficulty with obtaining and sending this document electronically. The District
will continue to monitor the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and make future decisions based upon
the guidance from the DeKalb County Board of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
and the Department of Public Health. If the form is not provided within 30 days once the school
reopens, the child will not be able to return to class without the form or proof of an appointment. The
child will not be able to return after the appointment without an updated form. Should the child be
absent for 10 consecutive days due to this form not being provided the child’s seat in Pre-K will be
forfeited.

DCSD policy states that this form must be on file within 90 days of the child starting school or the
expiration date. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, please email your school if you run into difficulty with
obtaining and sending this document electronically. The District will continue to monitor the status of
the COVID-19 pandemic and make future decisions based upon the guidance from the DeKalb County
Board of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Public Health.
If the form is not provided within 30 days once school reopens, the child will not be able to return to
class which may result in the child being withdrawn from the program.

Yes, there is an attendance policy for Pre-K students. Due to COVID-19, attendance modifications have
been established. Students are expected to participate during the Pre-K day which consists of 1-hour
virtual instruction and then the remaining time completing the at-home daily activities provided by the
Pre-K teacher. On days that the lesson will be missed, due to appointments or other unseen events,
the recorded virtual lesson can be viewed at a later time. Once schools re-open, students are expected
to be in attendance for the full instructional day during the entire school year. If a child is absent or
late ten consecutive days without a medical excuse, the child will be withdrawn from the class per the
guidelines established by Bright from the Start. Additionally, the counselor and/or social worker will
contact parents/guardians if a child has a pattern of being chronically late or leaving school early

Yes, parents/guardians are expected to participate in all scheduled parent/guardian meetings and
conferences at least twice a year and more often if necessary. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
meetings will occur virtually. The school and/or Pre-K teacher will notify you when the
meeting/conference times occur and provide the appropriate links to join the virtual
meeting/conference. (Once schools re-open, these activities will last approximately one hour).

The District will provide a 4-week, at-home activities sheet for all Pre-K students that can be completed
without using technology. The at-home activities are issued every four weeks during virtual learning
and capture Literacy, Math/Science, Social Emotional and Gross Motor/Movement learning concepts
to explore and learn. The Pre-K teacher will provide a learning link that can be accessed from any
electronic device.

Feel free to contact the Office of Early Childhood at PreKRecords@dekalbschoolsga.org

Pre-Lottery

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To be eligible for the 2020 – 2021 school year, your child’s date of birth should be on or between the following dates: September 2, 2015 – September 1, 2016.

No. If your home address is not zoned for DeKalb County School District, you are not eligible to participate. If you are unsure if your address is zoned for DeKalb Schools, please visit the school locator to verify.

No. You may register for either a theme school, if applicable, or your home school. If you choose to register for a theme school and are not selected, you will automatically be placed on the wait list. After the first week of school, if there is room at your home school, you are welcome to register for a seat at your home school.

To be eligible for the 2020 ‐ 2021 school year as a Pre‐Kindergarten student your child must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that identifies the need to spend their Kindergarten year in an inclusion (co‐taught) Pre‐K classroom.

Your child is expected to be able to take care of self-help tasks such as dressing, undressing, and toilet needs. Children should be potty trained prior to entering Pre-K. Parents will be called should an accident occur and will be required to come to school to change their child. Students are not to wear pull-ups to school unless outlined as a part of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 plan and the child is in a collaborative class, so he/she can be assisted by a special needs’ teacher/aide.

No. As a DCSD employee you must go through the same lottery process as everyone else. However, there are specific stipulations before employees can enter the Pre‐K lottery. Please contact your school principal or the Early Childhood Office for the DeKalb Pre‐K Lottery Employee Participation Memo.

If an applicant with a current Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is selected to attend a Bright from the Start (BFTS) general education Pre-K classroom, the applicant may possibly be moved to a BFTS inclusion classroom based on the student’s individual needs. NOTE: Theme schools do not house BFTS inclusion classrooms.

No. If your child has an existing IEP and is currently being service in the three‐year‐old classroom they will be rolled into a Pre‐K class based upon their IEP needs.

Proof of birth, proof of legal guardianship (if parent/guardian name is not on the birth certificate), parent/guardian proof of identification, and proof of residency.

Post Lottery

Your next step is accepting the seat and take your acceptance letter you received along with the remaining registration documents to your school on the indicated date to complete your registration. This next step is vital to complete within the timeframe allowed or you risk losing your seat to the next person on the wait list.

The lottery will be held on March 27, 2020. If you applied during the application window, you will receive an email indicating your child’s application status on March 27, 2020. Any student that was not selected for a lottery seat is automatically placed on the wait list. The system numerically orders students on the wait list and a letter is generated to notify the parent of their place on the wait list. As seats are declined or forfeited, the system generates an acceptance letter to the next person on the wait list. At that time, you will be required to complete the next steps to secure your lottery seat.

DCSD policy states that a child must have their Health Immunization form 3231 on file within 30 days of the child starting school or the expiration date. If it is not provided, the child will not be able to return to class without the form or proof of an appointment. The child will not be able to return after the appointment without an updated form. Should the child be absent for 10 consecutive days due to this form not being provided the child’s seat in Pre‐K will be forfeited.

DCSD policy states that this form must be on file within 90 days of the child starting school or the expiration date. If it is not provided, the child will not be able to return to class which may result in the child losing their spot in the program.

Upon registering your child for their Pre‐K seat, be sure to bring the medical information with you. The school will have someone on site to talk to you about medical forms and the procedures to administer prescribed medication.

All lottery selected students are expected to be present and accounted for on the first day of school. If your child is not in attendance by 10:00 AM on the first day of school, the seat will be forfeited and given to the next person on the wait list.

Yes, students are expected to be in attendance for the full instructional day during the entire school year. Children who do not attend class or are late ten consecutive days without a medical excuse, must be removed from the class as per state guidelines. Additionally, students who exhibit a pattern of chronically late or early release may be in jeopardy of forfeiting their seat and will be referred to the counselor and/or social worker.

Yes, parents are expected to participate in all scheduled parent meetings and parent conferences at least twice a year and more often if necessary. (These activities will last approximately one hour) .

Feel free to contact the Early Childhood Department at 678.676.0147.

Contact

  • Ms. Erica Nelson
    Pre-K Technician
  • 678.676.0147
  • Dr. Audria Berry
    Early Childhood Education Coordinator
  • 678.676.0379
  • Ms. Kim Rhodes
    Early Childhood Education Coordinator
  • 678.676.0392