Welcome to Kindergarten at Lake Bluff Elementary School!

Dear Parents and Families,

We are excited to communicate the next steps for our incoming Lake Bluff Elementary School kindergarteners. 

To get started, follow the instructions below.

Step 1 - Registration

The first step in the process is to register your child for Kindergarten. This information is imported into our student information system and will allow us to begin to plan appropriately for staffing. Information will be sent home and made available here when it opens.

PLEASE NOTE: State law and Board of Education Policy requires that all students entering kindergarten in the Fall of 2025 must turn five years old on or before September 1, 2025.  In some situations, students who turn five on or before October 31, 2025 may qualify for early entrance.  Please click here for more information. 

Step 2 - Learn more

After you have registered your child, you will want to learn more about Kindergarten in District 65

• Kindergarten Parent Information Night - More info for 2025-2025 will be posted when available.
  Mrs. Kellie Bae and the Lake Bluff Elementary School Kindergarten Team will hosted an event for 2024/2025. You can access the presentation slides here.

In order to officially register your child for Kindergarten, we need to verify that you live in the Lake Bluff School District and begin to gather hard copies of the information about your child.  To do this, you will need to bring your child's birth certificate and at least three documents verifying your residency. A list of the acceptable documents (you need three of them) can be found by clicking here. 

Step 3 - Choose Full-Day or Half-Day  

During the first week of May, parents of all children who have registered for Kindergarten and brought in all of their residency documents will receive an e-mail. During the 2023-24 school year, most of our students chose to be in the full day program and there is no difference in the cost between the two.

Student fees for the 2025-26 school year for Kindergarten will be approved by the end of February.  The current fees are available by clicking here.

Please note, all students must be paid in full by the first day of school!

Step 4 - Summer 

We encourage summer reading for all of our students.

PreK through entering 5th-grade students at LBES have a summer reading assignment. 

Assignment: Our students will read for 20 minutes at least 5 times to complete the assignment (100 minutes total).  

Directions: Be sure to keep track of your minutes on the READO board and have parents initial each box.  All kinds of reading counts: reading to yourself, being read to, reading to someone else, audiobooks, graphic novels, cookbooks, etc! 

Looking for a challenge?  3 READO’s or 12 boxes (240 minutes total) will earn you a prize. 

Looking for a Mega Challenge!? Fill your whole board (500 minutes total), earn a special prize, and be entered in the raffle for a DELUXE prize!  

If you need another copy, here’s the links:

READO Board (English)  

READO Board (Spanish). 

All READO boards are due on Friday, September 6th, 2024.

Step 5 - Kindergarten Screening

You will receive information to sign up for a 1-hour time slot for your child to be screened at LBES on August 23rd o4 24th.  Families are responsible for transportation to and from LBES for the screening appointment.  Parents will have the opportunity to meet other kindergarten parents at a gathering place while their child is participating in the screening session. 

This is also a perfect day to bring in your child's medical forms to the school nurse (more on that below).

Step 6 - Kindergarten Placement Day

Kindergarten class placement will take place on August 23rd.  You will receive your child’s class placement (teacher name) by the end of the day on August 23rd.

Step 7 - Practice Kindergarten & Meet Your Teacher Day

The students in each class will be divided into “morning” & “afternoon” groups to meet their teacher and participate in “practice kindergarten”.  This information will be shared with the classroom placement information.  Families are responsible for transportation on Monday, August 26th, due to the shortened schedule.

Step 8 - First Day of School

Tuesday, August 27th will be the first day of full day kindergarten and first day of busing for kindergarten students.

Other Information

Students who require the use of medication during the day MUST have a form on file with the school nurse. The forms are found below:

Medication Administration - Optional

Medication Administration Form

Authorization for Medication - Asthma and Epi-Pens

The school nurse at Lake Bluff Elementary School is Mrs. Jennifer Dennhardt and you can send her an e-mail with any questions that you might have about health records. Additionally, she can be reached by phone at 847-234-9405.

If you have any questions about Kindergarten Registration, please contact Kellie Bae (Principal).