Kindergarten

In kindergarten, students begin curriculum and instruction in all subjects, including science, social studies, and the arts; but the most important academic topics will be literacy and math, which underlay everything else to come.

• 10 Things About Kindergarten Every Parent Should Know
• What Happens in Kindergarten?

In Texas, children can enter kindergarten if they are five years old on or before Sept. 1 of the year in which they begin kindergarten. LISD supports the position that all children have a right to attend kindergarten if legally eligible by age. Parents who are weighing the advantages and disadvantages of delaying their child’s entry into kindergarten may find the articles linked below helpful. It is the responsibility of LISD to provide a kindergarten environment in which all children can develop, no matter at what stage they enter. Your child is welcome and we are ready! 

 Additional Helpful Links

• Important Milestones: Your Child by Five Years via the CDC with examples, either a video clip or photo, for almost EVERY skill on the CDC’s list
• Kindergarten, Here We Come
• 4 Things Kindergarten Teachers Want You to Know
• Readiness, Not a State of Knowledge, But a State of Mind

Research shows that reading aloud is the best way to prepare children for learning to read. Reading helps your children develop language skills that they will use in school and throughout their lives. Through books, your children can learn about a world they have not yet experienced and dream about worlds that do not exist.

Reading together is also a time to develop a close relationship with your child. You can laugh together at the silly sounds or antics in a story. You can share the anticipation waiting to what will happen on the next page. Having fond memories of reading together will be special to both you and your child as the years go by.

• Picture books are favorites of young children as the illustrations help them make sense of what they are hearing.
• They also enjoy rhyming poetry and stories with repetitive lines.
• Children enjoy predicting what will happen next.
• They will let you know which ones they like as they ask to hear the same story over and over again. Hearing a story repeatedly helps children understand and appreciate the basic structure of stories so they can apply it to future tales encountered.
• Ask your child questions and comment on his/her responses. In that way, you'll learn more about what your child is thinking and extend the joy of reading time together!

Resources:

• Articles for Families on Literacy from NAEYC
• 7 Tips for Reading Aloud to Kids
• Choosing a Child's Book

Children enter school with a variety of experiences and skills. Kindergarten teachers look for ways to support and nurture every student's potential while challenging and helping children progress according to their needs. Enrichment in kindergarten occurs in many ways, including but not limited to:

• Planned experiences by teachers and GT Facilitators trained in strategies for promoting creativity and critical thinking
• LISD Elementary STEM Academies  
• Dual language or Spanish Immersion experiences, which include learning academic content in Spanish as well as English. This program may be selected by parents of any LISD kindergartner even if the program is not offered on the home campus. See the LISD Dual Language or Spanish Immersion website for additional information.

Grade level acceleration - Parents may request that their child who will be five years old on or before September 1, 2026 be admitted into the first grade for the 2026-27 school year (rather than kindergarten) via credit by exam. Please review the Stages of Development document for information about the long-term implications of acceleration.

• To attend kindergarten, a student must be 5 years old on or before September 1 of the enrolling school year. 
• There is no prekindergarten acceleration for children who are not yet 5 on or before Sept. 1st and there is no enrollment of children who are still 4 years old on September 1, 2026 into Kindergarten. 
• The Sept. 1 cut-off date for kindergarten enrollment is set by the state. 

Below is the procedure to follow to request kinder acceleration testing.

Click HERE for a document outlining the LISD Kindergarten Acceleration procedures and HERE for slides for slides with the same information in a PPT format. 

1. Parents register their child for kindergarten for the 2026-27 school year at their home zoned LISD elementary campus during Spring enrollment.
2. Once kindergarten registration is complete, parents can ask the campus for acceleration testing information.
3. Parents meet with the elementary school counselor to learn about credit by exam, Kindergarten acceleration testing and stages of development. If the parent still wishes to have their child tested after their meeting, the counselor will provide the application to the parent.
4. The parents submit an application and copy of the child’s birth certificate to the Early Childhood Program ecprograms@lisd.net. 
5. District personnel will contact parents to schedule acceleration testing.
6. May 15, 2026 is the deadline to sign up for Kindergarten Acceleration testing for the 2026-27 school year. There is one kindergarten acceleration testing window in June. Tests are administered over a four-day span, one exam per day, and students must attend all four days.
7. Students will be evaluated with the following Kindergarten TEKS aligned University of Texas Credit by Exams:
   • English Language Arts
   • Mathematics
   • Science
   • Social Studies   

Kindergarten Acceleration Criteria 

• The University of Texas Credit by Exam results determine acceleration into first grade.
• Students must achieve 80% or higher on all four University of Texas exams to achieve acceleration.
• The acceleration criteria is final with no appeal process.
• If a child scores below the required 80% on any of the four tests, the child will not accelerate.