Parents are being urged to register their kids early

Parents of students entering 6th, 7th, and 8th grades this new school year are being encouraged to register their children early, in order to avoid students getting lost in the shuffle as zoning shifts students to middle schools they may not know they are supposed to attend.

Reo Arriola, vice principal of the newly configured Dandan Middle School, imagined a scenario where students would arrive prepared for the first day of school, but not show on the school’s registration lists.

“That’s kind of what we’re anticipating, and we’re hoping to…lessen that by parents coming in and registering early. If you live in an area, just give us a call and say, ‘Hey is my child registered already?’” he said.

He said the issue may be the same not only for Dandan but also with other new middle schools.

“I know [enrollment numbers] are going to get higher once school starts, but it will be nice to encourage the public, not only for Dandan Middle School but also for all middle schools as well to come in,” he said.

He said the middle school transition is much simpler for fifth graders moving on to sixth grade, as counterpart elementary and middle schools—San Vicente will take on Dandan elementary students, and Dandan Middle School will take San Vicente’s previous fifth graders—will just have to compare rosters.

While it would the same process for sixth grade to seventh grade students, it may not be for upcoming eighth graders.

“The eighth graders are an issue because we’re not really sure how many from Hopwood will be coming over,” he said.

Arriola explained that while schools may have student information available on emergency cards, families move and change locations so that a student they contact for registration who was listed as living in Dandan may now live in Koblerville and have to register with San Antonio Middle School.

He said schools rely on parents to know the zones they live in and where that zone places their child for middle school.