Written by: Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic 

To help parents who work out of town or are unsure of which school their children will attend, elementary schools across Yamhill County are working together to register students for kindergarten during a special event from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday.

Parents can register their children at any elementary school in the county and the information will be forwarded on to the school they will attend.

All Newberg, Dundee and Yamhill County elementary schools will open their doors to entering kindergarten students and their parents during the event, which is an ideal opportunity to meet teachers, visit the school and ask questions.

Representatives from First Student will be on hand to discuss transportation and information regarding the before and after school CARE program that will also be available.

Newberg Public Schools is offering regular full-day kindergarten from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., as well as three other optional programs for kindergarten students for the 2016-2017 school year.

In addition to a half-day kindergarten option, Newberg also offers a full-day dual language program at Edwards Elementary. Enrollment in the class, which has an equal number of native English and Spanish speakers, is determined by lottery.

Newberg also offers the Chehalem Online Learning Alliance, a tuition-free hybrid online program for K-8 students. The program blends online instruction with regular contact with a highly qualified teacher, with parents maintaining a leadership role in their child’s education planning.

Those parents planning on enrolling their child in kindergarten should bring a birth certificate, the child’s immunization record and two documents showing proof of home address.

Children must be 5 years old by Sept. 1 to enroll in kindergarten.

Those unable to attend should contact their neighborhood school to complete the registration process. The district is encouraging parents to pre-register their kindergarten age children prior to the end of the current academic year to ensure a smooth transition.