Find out about Kindergarten
Get Ready for Kindergarten!
The beginning of school is an important event in the life of a child. A strong start helps assure continued progress and further success. The Ankeny kindergarten program has been planned to stimulate the total growth of the child: academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. We know that each child is unique, and we strive to ensure that your child experiences self-fulfillment and builds a positive self-concept. Mutual understanding and confidence between the home and school are essential to the happiness and academic growth of the kindergarten child. We created this web page to provide information about kindergarten and to help make your child’s adjustment to school life a successful and happy one.
Who may come to kindergarten?
As established by state regulations, a child may enter kindergarten if his/her fifth birthday is on or before September 15 of the current school year.
Attendance
Attending school regularly and on time is very important. Your child’s interests and progress will be maintained through his/her participation in each day’s learning experiences. Parents should call the school prior to 8:00 a.m. if there is an absence. Please notify the school in advance of any anticipated absence.
Assisting in Your Child’s Education
You can help in your child’s education in a number of ways. It is important that you:
- Read to your child.
- Present a positive attitude about school to your child.
- Teach your child to be independent in caring for his or her personal needs, such as how to:
- tie shoes and hood
- zip or button clothes
- use the bathroom independently
- Provide opportunities for your child to develop fine motor skills by encouraging the use of scissors, crayons, pencils, and glue.
- Involve your child in gross motor activities such as throwing, catching, running, jumping, climbing, etc.
- Teach your child his/her full name, address, and telephone number.
- Teach your child the appropriate communication for wants and needs.
Lunch
The Ankeny Community School District provides a well-balanced hot lunch that parents may choose to purchase. If you send your child’s lunch from home, we ask that you also consider good nutrition. During lunchtime each day, students will be provided with many opportunities to practice good manners and social skills.
Visiting/Volunteering in School
Parents/guardians are welcome to visit their child’s classroom except during the first and last weeks of school. Whenever possible, please provide building administration with at least 24-hours advance notice of the intended visit to the building so schedules can be coordinated. Teachers are not able to conference with parents when class is in session. Lunchtime visits are limited to eating lunch. Visitors are not permitted to attend recess. Minors and students unaccompanied by adults are not permitted to visit elementary schools.
Persons who wish to volunteer in the school must complete the volunteer approval process via our Volunteer Sign Up prior to the visit. Please note that this involves a background check and can take up to two weeks for completion. Once someone is an approved volunteer, they may sign up for volunteer opportunities directly through the district’s volunteer portal. To ensure safety, individuals who have not signed up to volunteer through the portal will not be permitted to volunteer for the selected activity.
Upon arrival, all visitors and volunteers are required to check in at the school office and present a photo ID. To ensure we are able to consistently maintain a safe learning environment the district uses Raptor, a visitor management system, to screen all visitors against sexual offender registries in all 50 states.
Please refer to our visitor policy for further information.
Health
The primary mission of the school nurse is to remove health barriers to learning. If a student becomes ill or injured during the day, the teacher will excuse the student from class to go to the nurse’s office. If it is necessary for a student to go home, the parents/guardians will be contacted and arrangements will be made. No student will be sent home until prior arrangements have been made. Visit the immunizations and health screenings web page.
Before and After School Program
The Ankeny Community School District offers a safe, fun, high-quality, fee-based Before and After-School Enrichment Program for students in grades K-5. The Before and AfterSchool Program is funded through participating parent-paid fees and is operates at eight of the district’s elementary schools on regularly scheduled school days. The before-school program opens at 6:30 a.m. The after-school program open immediately following the regular school day and closes at 6:00 p.m. The program also offers full-day, theme-based enrichment camps on no-school days, winter and spring break, and throughout the summer. The Before and After-School Program provides students with high-quality academically-enriching, safe, and fun before and after school experience. Students engage in daily recreation, homework lab and hands-on enrichment labs geared toward helping students increase academic success, character development, and build life skills. The program is governed by the Iowa Department of Human Services and provides a supervised environment that carries over PBIS expectations and promotes educational competence, physical and social development, and community and family engagement. Before-school program participants have the opportunity to purchase breakfast through the district Nutrition Services Program; a nutritious snack is provided in the after-school program. For more information, including program-specific procedures, enrollment contract options and to learn more about registration and tuition, visit the Before and After School Program website. The minimum Before and After-School Program site enrollment must be 30 students. The program manager will make every effort to ensure student enrollment is met. However, if minimum program enrollment is not met, it may be necessary to close the low enrollment site and combine it with a neighboring program site. In such situations, parents will be notified in writing with as much advance notice as possible.
Parent and Community Involvement
Each elementary has a Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) and each building has its own officers. Meetings and projects are held according to each building’s needs. PTOs wishing to raise money for the building are asked to refer to the guidelines in Board Policy 1004.60. Many parents/guardians help carry out the projects throughout the year. We hope you will become active in your PTO; this is an important link between the home and school to benefit your child.
Ankeny Elementary Schools and Principals:
| North Feeder | South Feeder |
|---|---|
| Ashland Ridge Elementary Principal: Mark Moss 2600 NW Ash Drive Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9594 Fax: (515) 965-9593 |
Crocker Elementary Principal: Brandon Hargens2910 SW Applewood Street Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9710 Fax: (515) 965-9714 |
| Northeast Elementary Principal: Kristin Barber 1705 NE Trilein Dr. Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9620 Fax: (515) 965-9621 |
East Elementary Principal: Andrew Burg 710 SE Third Street Ankeny, IA 50021 Phone: (515) 965-9660 Fax: (515) 965-9663 |
| Northwest Elementary Principal: Kate Cisney 1202 W First Street Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9680 Fax: (515) 965-9683 |
Heritage Elementary Principal: Laura Ryan 301 SW Prairie Trail Parkway Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9645 Fax: (515) 964-3981 |
| Rock Creek Elementary Principal: Suvada Kuburas 3800 NW Abilene Road Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9629 Fax: (515) 964-5101 |
Prairie Trail Elementary Principal: Ben Muller 1850 SW College Ave. Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9605 Fax: (515) 289-2825 |
| Westwood Elementary Principal: Joel Martin 2920 NW Ninth Street Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9690 Fax: (515) 965-9693 |
Southeast Elementary Principal: Erin Adair 1005 SE Trilein Drive Ankeny, IA 50021 Phone: (515) 965-9650 Fax: (515) 965-9653 |
| Terrace Learning Center Principal: Sheila Schmidt 310 NW School Street Ankeny, IA 50023 Phone: (515) 965-9670 Fax: (515) 965-9672 |