July 19, 2002
Student registration services for new non-English-speaking children entering Fairfax County Public Schools will be available at seven centers throughout Fairfax County beginning Aug. 5 and running through Sept. 13.
All centers provide registration and English proficiency assessment services. Call 703-876-5231 or 703-8876-5240 to make an appointment. Additional information regarding registration sites will be available on the FCPS Web site, www.fcps.edu/DSSSE/StudentServices/StudentRegistration, and cable television programs by Aug. 1.
For more information contact Elsie Kirton, guidance and student registration services director, at 703-208-6487.
The following centers will be open Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.:
* South County Government Center, 8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria;
* Fairfax Human Resources Center, 6245 Leesburg Pike, Suite 300, Falls Church; and
* Fairfax Education Association, 3917 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax.
The following centers will be open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesdays, noon to 8:30 p.m.:
* Bryant Center, 2709 Popkins Lane, Alexandria;
* Devonshire Center, 2831 Graham Road, Falls Church; and
* Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center, 1086 Elden St., Suite 106, Herndon.
The following center will be open Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. only:
* The Reading and Writing Center, 7004 I Little River Turnpike, Annandale.
INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS schedule new-student registration dates in early August for English-speaking students. Students, however, can be enrolled at any time with parents urged to enroll their children as soon as possible after they arrive in the area.
For information regarding school assignment according to geographical residence, call 703-246-2111 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
TO ENROLL A STUDENT, the following will be required:
* The presence of a natural or adoptive parent, a photo ID of the parent may be required;
* Birth certificate;
* Proof of residency in Fairfax County, generally a lease or deed;
* Social Security number, requested;
* Transfer slip or report card from the previous school and/or original transcripts;
* Certificate of a physical examination within the last 12 months by a licensed physician for students in grades kindergarten through sixth and for all foreign students regardless of grade level;
* Evidence of a negative tuberculin test or a normal chest X-ray administered within 90 days for all students who have resided in a foreign country, except Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, during the last three years for a consecutive period of at least five months; and
* Evidence of other required immunization. Virginia law requires every new student to be immunized against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps and rubella or to provide statements from a doctor explaining why the DPT and/or MMR immunization was not given. Students born on or after Jan. 1, 1994, are required to have been immunized with the hepatitis B vaccine, HBV. Students lacking required documentation of immunizations will be barred from attendance. Objections based on religious grounds may be discussed with the local principal.
VIRGINIA LAW requires a child who has reached his or her fifth birthday on or before Sept. 30, 2002 to be enrolled in kindergarten for the 2002-03 school year unless the parent or guardian notifies the local principal, in writing, that he or she does not want the child to attend. A child who will be 6-years-old on or before Sept. 30, 2002 must attend school.
A qualifying parent may elect to provide home instruction for his or her school-age child in lieu of school attendance. For more information regarding home instruction, call 703-876-5233 or 703-876-5206.