Enrollment & Registration

Pursuant to EC 48000(a), a child is eligible for kindergarten if the child will have their fifth birthday by September 1.

Each elementary or unified school district must offer kindergarten classes for all children eligible to attend; children are not required to enroll in kindergarten. Once enrolled, children in kindergarten must attend on the same basis as children ages 6 through 18.

By state statute, the maximum school day in kindergarten is four hours (EC 46110). An exception to this statute allows schools that have adopted an early primary program (extended-day kindergarten) to exceed four hours (EC 8973).

Under EC sections 48010 and 48011, a child who has been admitted to kindergarten in a private or public school in California or any other state and who has completed one year in that school shall be admitted to the first grade of an elementary school unless the parent and the school agree that the child should continue kindergarten (for not more than an additional school year).

My child is age-eligible for kindergarten but already attended kindergarten at a private school in California. Can they be placed in first grade?

No. A child who was not age-eligible for kindergarten and who attended a California private school kindergarten for a year is viewed by the CDE as not legally enrolled in kindergarten, pursuant to EC Section 48000 requirements. 

We moved from out of state and my child attended a public school kindergarten based on the state’s requirements. Can my child be enrolled in first grade even though they do not meet the age-eligibility requirements?

Yes. A child who was legally enrolled in an out-of-state public kindergarten for one school year (using that state's requirements), but who does not meet California age eligibility for first grade, may, with parental consent, be enrolled by the district in first grade (EC Section 48011).