Bayfield families whose children will be entering kindergarten this fall are encouraged to get a head start on enrolling them at Bayfield Primary School for the 2024-25 school year.

School officials are asking parents to call BPS at 884-0881 so they can sign up for and attend orientation sessions on May 22 and 23, according to a news release on the Bayfield School District’s website.

Sessions for both days will take place at 8:15 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at BPS.

BPS Principal Jan Alderton said in the release that kindergarten teachers will oversee the sessions and “do some basic screening assessments on all of the students that come in so we can better place kids in classrooms.”

“It helps us be more successful and helps them be more successful,” she said. “We also want to create balanced classrooms, and it is really tough to do if only half of your population comes to orientation and goes through the screening.”

Parents who register their children early for kindergarten and attend one of the orientation sessions will also have a chance to sign their child up for a seven-week summer reading program, slated between June 3 and July 18.

That program, which will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday, will feature multiple 30-minute time slots where teachers will work with students one-on-one, the release said.

Alderton said in the release that early registration will in turn help teachers plan for the coming school year more efficiently.

“Kindergarten is always one of those grades where we don’t know how many kids we are going to have so we don’t know how many teachers we are going to need,” she said. “We always know that we have a few that will come in late, but the sooner we have a pretty solid idea the sooner teachers can start to plan.”

mhollinshead@durangoherald.com