Students in Heidi Garten’s Mountain View Elementary School kindergarten class show off some of their Constitution Day artwork in September. Coloring and other learning exercises help children develop hand-eye coordination at an early age. Alleghany Highlands Public Schools elementary schools will hold orientations on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, to begin registering kindergarten students for the 2025-2026 school year. (AHPS Photo)

AHPS Schedules Kindergarten Orientations for Next School Year Low Moor, VA (Feb. 12, 2025) - Alleghany Highlands Public Schools elementary schools will hold orientations on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, to begin registering kindergarten students for the 2025-2026 school year. The orientations will be held at each elementary school starting at 5:30 p.m.  Kindergarten orientations are designed to assist parents enrolling their children by providing important information, as well as completing registration and health history paperwork. Students/Parents will be provided dinner as part of the orientation as well as a student bus ride, tour of the school, etc. Please notify your home school of your attendance in advance for meal preparation. Parents may bring the student’s birth certificate, a current immunization record, and preschool physical documentation if they have already had a physical within one calendar year of their expected enrollment in AHPS. To be eligible for kindergarten, a child must turn five years of age by Sept. 30, 2025. At present, Kindergarten screening dates are April 14-16, 2025. Parents sign up for those dates following orientation.        AHPS encourages parents to register their students as early as possible as this helps plan for needed materials and the assignment of teachers and other staff. "We sincerely appreciate the help of families during kindergarten registration," said Kim Halterman and Melinda Snead-Johnson, leaders of AHPS. “The school division also thanks parents and others for all the activities they do to prepare children for school, including reading to them and helping them learn to use simple school supplies like scissors. Simple, everyday activities like using blocks, saying rhymes, having conversations, and holding crayons also help prepare children for school.” The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools Division was created through the July 1, 2022, merger of Allegany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center. The school division, which serves approximately 2,700 students, is jointly funded by Alleghany County and the City of Covington.  School division news and events are regularly posted on Facebook at AHPublicSchools. The division website can be visited at ahps.k12.va.us.

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