Kindergarten and PreK Registration to Begin March 16
Kindergarten Enrollment for the 23-24 school year opens on March 16 for Grainger County Schools.
Children that will reach five years of age on or before August 15, 2023, will be eligible to attend Kindergarten next year.
In Tennessee, children are required by law to attend kindergarten, and no child will be eligible to enter first grade without having first attended an approved kindergarten program. While children do not have to enroll at 5 years of age, enrollment must occur no later than the academic year after the child’s 6th birthday.
The enrollment process for Grainger County Schools will be done virtually this year. Parents of incoming Kindergarten students can enroll their child by accessing the online enrollment form on the website of the school the child will attend. Our system has four schools that have Kindergarten programs: Rutledge Primary , Bean Station, Joppa and Washburn.
If parents need assistance with the enrollment process they should contact the school where their child will enroll and attend. Parents can also call our central office at 828-3611 if you have questions about eligibility or enrollment.
Schools are in the process of planning KinderHUGS preparation programs for the spring. Parents should continue to check school websites periodically for updated information and opportunities that may be available for incoming students in the summer or at beginning of next school year as well.
GCS Named as an Advancing District
Grainger County Schools was recently named as an Advancing District by the Tennessee Department of Education.
Under Tennessee’s accountability system, districts are expected to
increase achievement levels for all students and demonstrate student
growth across all student groups. Districts are assessed on their
performance across six critical performance indicators measured through
multiple pathways. The indicators include Grade Band Success Rates,
rates at which students are Chronically Out of School, performance on
the English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA), and Graduation
rates. District accountability scores are calculated using a weighted
average of the district’s scores across all indicators and student
groups to determine a district’s designation. The five possible district
designations are Exemplary, Advancing, Satisfactory, Marginal, and In
Need of Improvement.
New to Grainger County Schools?
If you need to enroll a student in a Grainger County School, we now offer online enrollment. Please click here
and choose the appropriate school(s) online enrollment form. After you
have competed the form, you may contact the school(s) for additional
information on completing the enrollment process. If you are unsure of
what school your child will attend, please call the Grainger County
Board of Education office at 865-828-3611. Online enrollment forms can
also be found on the schools' website under the School Info drop down
menu.
Grainger County Schools will also begin accepting applications for our Voluntary Pre-K classrooms March 16, 2023. We encourage all Grainger County residents who have children that are 4 years old to apply for their child to attend one of the four PreK classrooms. Each program can enroll 20 students. Students are admitted to the program-based on specific criteria.
First priority for enrollment is all children who meet free or reduced-price lunch income guidelines and are four years old by Aug. 15, 2023. If space is available after enrolling children who qualify for free or reduced lunch, the program may enroll children who have disabilities, are English Language Learners, are in state custody, or who are otherwise defined as at risk.
Grainger County provides an excellent PreK program. The teachers at each school are well trained in all aspects of PreK, including fine-motor skills, cognitive and language development as well social-personal development.
Voluntary PreK classes promote a high-quality academic environment, which fosters the love and joy of learning and promotes sucess in kindergarten and throughout the child's life.
To register your child, click here on or after March 16 and then click the online registration button. You may also contact the school where you will be registering to make arrangements for a packet pick up. Applications for enrollment will not be accepted prior to March 16, 2023.
StaffEZ to Employ GCS Substitutes for 22-23
The Grainger County School Board has voted to return to StaffEZ to employ our substitute teachers. This will allow our substitutes to work five days a week if they choose to accept jobs everyday whereas they were only allowed to work four days in the past. Substitutes are still needed in all areas. Anyone interested in substituting and all current substitutes MUST complete the StaffEZ online application. Any substitute that worked with StaffEZ (PESG) in the past will NOT have to complete the application. . Anyone with questions may contact Roger Blanken at 865-828-3611 or email rblanken@gcs123.net.
Please click HERE to complete the Free/Reduced Lunch Application online.
TCAP Family Portal
To better serve parents and to provide clear insight into student achievement, the Tennessee Department of Education has opened a TCAP Family Portal. This online resource offers detailed, personalized information about student’s progress on the Spring 2021 TCAP exams. Visit https://familyreport.tnedu.gov/login to register for the Family Portal using the student’s State ID. This State ID can be found in your ParentVue or StudentVue accounts under the Student Info tab or on any past printed TCAP report.
