Enrolling your child in school
How to enroll your child in school
We are very excited to welcome your student into WSESU schools!
Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) includes schools in the towns of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon, Vermont. There are three K-6 elementary schools in Brattleboro, one K-6 school in the town of Guilford, one in the town of Vernon, and a K-8 school in each of the towns of Dummerston and Putney. Students from K-6 elementary schools all attend the Brattleboro Area Middle School, and almost all WSESU students attend grades 9-12 at Brattleboro Union High School. (High school students in Vernon may be tuitioned to nearby Pioneer Valley High School in Northfield, MA).
Enrolling your child requires a different process, depending upon the age of the child and the town of residence:
- If your child is 3 or 4 years old by September 1, there are two options:
- Enroll your 4-year-old child in a preK program at a public school in your town of residence, if one is provided. PreK programs exist in schools in the towns of Brattleboro (Oak Grove School only), Dummerston, Guilford, and Putney. Contact the public school directly to enroll your child. Contact information is available from the Schools Page. NOTE: If there is not enough space for all families requesting enrollment, a lottery system will be used to select students.
- Enroll your child with a private pre-kindergarten provider. If you choose this option, you may be eligible to receive tuition support for 10 hours of pre-kindergarten instruction, depending upon the provider you choose. Participation does require separately enrolling in the WSESU PFPK program and enrolling your child with the private provider. More information on the WSESU Publicly-Funded Pre-Kindergarten (PFPK) / Universal Pre-K (UPK) program, and a list of providers with whom we contract, is available on the Early Education page.
- (WSESU also offers Early Childhood Special Education services for students who qualify for an IEP.)
- If your child is 5 years old by September 1, and you wish to enroll them in kindergarten, see the information on kindergarten registration below.
- If your child is 6- 12 years old by September 1, options vary depending upon your town of residence:
- For families residing in the towns of Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, or Vernon, contact the school directly to enroll your child. Contact information is available on the Schools page
- For families residing in the town of Brattleboro, contact the WSESU Central Office (contact information below). Brattleboro maintains three K-6 schools – Academy School, Oak Grove School, and Green Street School. Decisions regarding which school your child will attend are made weighing a number of factors including the presence of older siblings attending one of the schools, and parent request. Parents may request a specific Brattleboro Town school by writing to the principal of that school. There is no guarantee that your student will be enrolled there but parental wishes are taken into account.
- Students going into 7th or 8th grade who reside in Brattleboro, Guilford, or Vernon will enroll in Brattleboro Area Middle School. Please contact the school directly. Contact information is on the Schools page. 7th- and 8th-grade students in Dummerston and Putney remain at their local K-8 school.
- Students from any town going into 9th through 12th grade will enroll in Brattleboro Union High School (some exceptions in Vernon). Contact information is available on the Schools page.
Kindergarten Registration in WSESU
As noted above, the process for students enrolling in kindergarten differs, depending upon the town of residence. Please refer to this general checklist for kindergarten enrollment for all WSESU schools. It is the general expectation that students will be 5 years old by September 1, and that students will be coming to school having been potty trained. There is a process for requesting early entrance to kindergarten – see below. The deadline for making this request is April 1 of the prior school year.
Students residing in the towns of Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon are enrolled by contacting the school directly to confirm enrollment and filling out the forms listed below. (The Schools page has contact information for all WSESU schools.)
Students residing in the town of Brattleboro will be enrolled in one of three schools – Academy School, Oak Grove School, or Green Street School. In determining placement for these students, a number of factors are considered, including whether or not older siblings attend one of the schools and parental requests. To request a specific school, please include a separate, written request with the registration forms below. Parental requests are considered along with other factors.
To start the enrollment process for Brattleboro Town school enrollment (Brattleboro residents):
- Contact the WSESU Central Office to inform us that you wish to enroll your child. This will populate a list for us to use to check on paperwork.
- Fill out the following Kindergarten Registration forms below.
Kindergarten Registration Forms: Each is a Google Doc that will automatically create a copy. You can either fill out the forms online and then print, or print and fill out by hand. Please then bring or mail them to the Central Office (WSESU K Registration, 53 Green Street, Brattleboro VT 05301). If you are unable to print the document, please contact kbeebe@wsesdvt.org or call 802-579-1013:
Early Entrance to Kindergarten: Families wishing to enroll their child turning 5 after the September 1 deadline will need to follow guidelines laid out in the WSESU Family Guide to Early Kindergarten. Applications for early entrance to Kindergarten must be submitted by April 1, prior to fall entry. Children turning five years old more than 60 days past the September 1 deadline are not eligible for early entrance.
