Palm Springs Unified School District is launching its first centralized center where parents of incoming kindergarten students can not only enroll their child but also take care of immunizations, transfer applications, school lunch applications and much more — all under one roof.
Through a partnership with Borrego Health, the district’s Student Services Department is setting up the Kindergarten Enrollment Center at the Desert Hot Springs Health & Wellness Center at 11750 Cholla Drive. For the first two weeks, March 7-11 and March 14-18, the center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On Saturdays, March 12 and 19, hours will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Following spring break — from April 5 through May 31 — the center will be open on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Thursdays from noon to 4:30 p.m. On Tuesdays, June 7, 14, 21 and 28, hours will be 9 a.m. to noon.
Incoming kindergarteners are those who will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1. Parents can also enroll their child in Transitional Kindergarten if the child was born between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2, 2011. Required documents for enrollment include: birth certificate, proof of residency (current utility bill), kindergarten physical and proof of immunizations. Children who have not yet had their physical or immunizations will be able to get them at the Wellness Center at the time of registration.
In addition to resources for transportation, school lunches, early childhood education programs and district transfers, parents will also be able to visit information tables for each of Desert Hot Springs’ elementary schools. The first 800 students to enroll will receive a free backpack filled with school supplies, courtesy of the Assistance League of Palm Springs Desert Area, which provided the backpacks; and the Palm Springs Noon Rotary Club, which donated the supplies.
Parents enrolling their child also will have the opportunity to sample some of the foods that are served in the school cafeterias. The district’s Nutrition Services Department will be on hand to not only collect school lunch enrollment forms but also serve refreshments to visitors to the enrollment center.
