Registration deadlines for all students

Every year, parents must ensure that their children are registered for the following school year in order for them to receive the education they deserve. But just when exactly is registration time? For new parents sending their first child to school, the moment is already stressful enough without needing to add the extra stress of endless searches for registration deadlines.

As a parent, once you have determined whether your child is eligible or not to receiving education in English according to the Charter of the French language, you must now register that child in the appropriate school. But when exactly should you start thinking about this?

Registration deadlines vary by school board, but are usually somewhere between the end of January and the end of February, both for new registrations and re-registrations of current students for the following school year. Consult your school board’s website to know the exact dates.

Registration takes places directly at your local school. You must contact the school and make an appointment, during which a certificate of eligibility for English education will be filled in with your application. Most school boards send a re-registration form home with their students during registration period, which parents only have to fill in, sign and return.

In order to register your child for kindergarten, he or she must be 5 years of age on or before September 30^th of that year. For Grade 1, he or she must be 6 years of age on or before September 30^th. It is also possible to ask for derogation to the School Board in order for children to start school prior to the age mentioned above if they meet certain conditions. Contact your school board for more information regarding that process.

When going to your appointment, don’t forget to bring with you these mandatory documents. Take note that some schools may require other documents as well. Make sure to ask which documents you will need to bring when making an appointment.

• The child’s original long version birth certificate bearing parents’ names
• A proof of parents’ Canadian citizenship
• Two Quebec proofs of residency (i.e. Tax receipts, any utility bill, etc.)
• The child’s last report card if attended a school the previous year

As previously mentioned, a Certificate of eligibility to English education will be filled out at the school during your appointment.

Registering your child in the appropriate school board makes a difference with regards to that school board’s funding. As an individual with children who owns property in a certain School Board’s area, you are required to pay taxes to the school board attended by your children. This money will go back to your children if you make sure you pay to the appropriate board.

However, any property owner who resides on a school board’s territory, with or without children, or simply owns a property but does not reside in it, has the liberty to choose whether he wishes to be billed for the French or English School Board, depending on which school board electoral list he appears.

To change your name from one electoral list to the other, the best is to do so during the revision period for elections. But it is also possible to do so outside of the revision period by sending a written request that your name be added to the current electoral list to the Director General of the School Board.

Check your school board’s website for all additional information pertaining to registration and school board elections. The next school board election is coming up in November 2014. Make sure to vote!