BEND, OR -- Bend-La Pine Schools takes kindergarten registration on the road Saturday morning, for the class of 2036.

"We felt families might like to gather at a park on a Saturday to play with their kids. And why not have a school bus there and be able to connect with school people in their neighborhood," says Executive Director for Elementary Programs Tammy Doty. "Kindergarten teachers, especially, love getting out there and connecting with families about kindergarten. Office staff love connecting with families as well. They’ve volunteered, administrators - we have a variety of people who will be out there."

Doty tells KBND news they want kids to be excited about starting school and will hand out "class of 2036" goodie bags. Teachers and staff will also talk with parents, "Make sure they have all the information they need to get kids registered. We can register on the spot or we can send them home with registration materials." They'll also learn more about kindergarten information events at schools, planned for May, "We want to make sure they know what their home school is, especially if they are a new parent to school, if this is their oldest child and they haven’t been in school before."

Doty says early registration helps the district plan ahead for the fall, "Generally, we know roughly how many kids we have in first through 12th grade, because those kids have all been in our system already. But kindergarten is often, really, our best guess. Sometimes we are right on with that estimate, and sometimes it’s a surprise. So, the sooner we can get people registering, the better."

The kindergarten buses will be at each stop for one hour only:

9:00-10:00 a.m. – in Bend

Hollygrape Park, 19489 Hollygrape Street

Sun Meadow Park, 61141 Dayspring Drive

Pilot Butte Neighborhood Park, 1310 Northeast Highway 20

 

9:00-10:00 a.m. – in Sunriver/Three Rivers

Oregon Water Wonderland 1 mailboxes (where South Century & Snow Goose meet)

 

10:30-11:30 a.m. – in Bend

Bend-La Pine School Education Center, 520 NW Wall Street

Ponderosa Park, 225 Southeast 15th Street

Canal Row Park, 1630 Northeast Butler Market Road

 

10:30-11:30 a.m. – in La Pine

Frontier Heritage Park, 16405 First Street

 

 

To be eligible for kindergarten, students must be five years old on or before Sept. 1, 2023. Families with new kindergarten students can also register online now.