Admittance of young Kindergarten students

Great Hearts does not accept early kindergarten students—i.e. all kinder applicants must be 5 before Sept 1st.

Great Hearts believes this policy to be in the best interest of our schools for a number of reasons:

1. Kindergarten Readiness testing does not accurately assess social and emotional readiness.
2. A class comprised of a handful of younger students will negatively affect the entire class, and experience has shown that this impact worsens with time.
3. If a child that does not meet minimum age requirements is accepted to our school and does not pass Kindergarten, our school will not receive funding for their second year of Kindergarten.

Admittance of young First Graders

According to state statute, a first grader must turn five before September 1st of the school year for which they are applying.  If a 1st grade applicant misses this cutoff date, an exception can be made for this student if they meet all of the following conditions:

• They turn five before January 1st of the school year for which they are applying
• They have successfully completed a kindergarten program
• They receive headmaster approval after a consultation takes place between the headmaster, parents/guardians, a first grade teacher, and the student.  This consultation will take place only after the child receives an offer from Archway Chandler.
• The approval is reached because it is deemed to be in the best interest of the child to attend 1st grade