Kindergarten registration for the Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) School District will begin Monday, Feb. 3.

Registration can be completed by visiting http://www.l-spioneers.org and clicking the Enrollment tab.

Early Childhood coordinator Lauren Menapace says it is wise to sign up early to take advantage of all the programs the district offers.

"I would encourage parents to register for kindergarten early. That way, you are aware of all the opportunities to help your child transition to kindergarten," said Menapace. "If you register late, you miss all those opportunities, and it doesn't make it easy for them to start in September."

L-S will host a Kindergarten Expo Tuesday, March 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. It will be held at the Early Childhood Center, 1740 Pioneer Road, Lancaster. There will be information about transportation and food services, as well as opportunities to meet guidance counselors and learn about the district's school-age child care.

The Early Childhood Center officially opened in August 2024. "One thing I noticed after being in the building for half the year, it's definitely a quieter space," Menapace said. "It's very calm. I think a lot of the time for kids coming into Lampeter Elementary (LE) it was often overwhelming with bigger kids and being loud."

"One of the main reasons we're over here is space," Menapace added. "We outgrew Lampeter Elementary, but moving over here gives us the opportunity to create a learning space geared toward younger children. LE was a K-2 building before we moved over here. There's a large difference between kindergartners and second-graders, so by moving over here we were also able to bring in an additional classroom for our Owl Hill Pre-K Counts program."

Pre-K Counts is for 3- and 4-year-olds who live in the district and qualify for the program. Space is limited. "The reason we introduced that program in our district is we were finding we had a large number of students who weren't attending preschool," said Menapace. "So by offering them the Pre-K Counts program, we give every child in the district an opportunity to have a pre-K and preschool experience before coming to kindergarten. It gives them a leg up when they start kindergarten because they're familiar with the staff, they're familiar the processes we go through with arrival and dismissal, and they are just better prepared to go through the kindergarten transition."

L-S partners with other preschool programs in the district, including church-based groups. "We work closely with them and check in to make sure they are aware of the programs that we're using so they're doing their best to prepare kindergartners, as well," said Menapace. "I do think early education is very important. It's a foundation for higher learning. I think one of the main goals we have here at the Early Childhood Center is to make sure that children develop an early love of learning and feel welcome in the district. That's one of my goals as a coordinator is make parents feel welcome and heard when they are registering their kids. We put in a lot of effort making sure we pair children with a teacher we think will be best for their personality. "

The district's Kick Off for Kindergarten program allows kids to come in and try two days of kindergarten over the summer. "It's a good glimpse of who the child is, both academically and emotionally," said Menapace. "We take all that information from their assessments and observations and decide what teacher the student should be assigned. Sometimes we encourage parents to wait a year if we think it might to be too overwhelming to start kindergarten if they're on the younger side."

Elementary assistant principal Jennifer Felix says she loves coming into the Early Education Center. "Mrs. Menapace is fantastic," she said. "She just prepares our incoming kindergartners, shows them what they can expect and what our classrooms look like. She is taking children who have never been students and teaching them to be students."

"This is an intimate atmosphere where they feel safe," Felix added. "There is no pressure from older peers. The goal when they leave here is they are ready to be full-time students."