The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) released student enrollment numbers that show a decline in kindergarteners. This comes after SDUSD warned against a kindergarten gap year.
Three weeks into the 2020-2021 school year SDUSD released their student enrollment numbers. As of Sept. 16, 100,348 students were enrolled in district schools, 2,474 below the projection issued before the COVID-19 pandemic. The largest group of students not enrolled falls into the transitional kindergarten/kindergarted levels representing 1,682 students or about two out of every three of all unrolled students, SDUSD said.
“Those early grade-levels are critical times in the life of a student. They set a child up for success in later grades, not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well,” Superintendent Cindy Marten said. “I encourage families to enroll their children in kindergarten now to establish that connection with their schools and to begin their San Diego Unified education.”
SDUSD encourages parents to enroll their 5-year-olds in kindergarten if they are not yet enrolled.
SDUSD's online instruction model includes live, daily teacher interaction and independent learning opportunities. All kindergarteners are issued a district Chromebook and may receive free daily breakfast and lunch at 81 distribution sites around the district.
SDUSD is reaching out to families in the district that still have not enrolled their children in school, with special focus on Transition Kindergarten/Kindergarten.
