Kindergarten Kickoff events welcome prospective students, families

Eden Prairie Schools is hosting several Virtual Kindergarten Kickoff events in October, the first in an ongoing series designed to engage and support prospective kindergartners and their families.

At Virtual Kindergarten Kickoff events, families will have the opportunity to meet school staff including a kindergarten teacher, the principal, a special education teacher, as well as several parents who have recently made this same transition.

The event schedule is as follows:

• Forest Hills Elementary: Monday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m. to noon.
• Oak Point Elementary: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 6 to 7 p.m.
• Eden Lake Elementary: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 11 a.m. to noon.
• Cedar Ridge Elementary: Thursday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to noon.
• Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion: Thursday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to noon.
• Prairie View Elementary: Thursday, Oct. 24, 5 to 6 p.m.
• EP Online: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 5 to 6 p.m.

Other special upcoming events include Kindergarten Adventure Day and Kinder KidFlicks. Families will also be invited to regular school events like carnivals and Family Fun Nights, and students will be invited to attend the traditional KinderCamp in August.

During Kindergarten Adventure Day in November, prospective kindergartners will have a chance to ride one of the district’s yellow school buses to their future school. Children can play on the playground, listen to a special story in a kindergarten classroom with current students, and enjoy a school lunch with new friends in the cafeteria. 

School buses will pick up from a local park at 10 a.m., take children to school, then return to the park by noon. A parent, guardian or family friend must attend with their incoming kindergartner.

In January, each elementary school will host a Kinder KidFlick event. Prospective students and their families can bring blankets and pillows, watch a kid-friendly film, and meet staff, new friends, and classmates. Each school will show a different movie chosen by the principal. Parents will also be able to attend an info session during the event.

Interested families can learn more and register on the district’s Kindergarten Kickoff website.

Increasing engagement, experiential opportunities, and enrollment

Grace Becker, Eden Prairie Schools’ director of marketing and communications, who is leading the Kindergarten Kickoff campaign, gave a presentation about the initiative at the school board’s Sept. 23 business meeting.

Becker said that after examining data on the effectiveness of existing kindergarten marketing, the district made intentional choices when it launched a new marketing effort at the start of the 2023-24 school year.

She said the goals of the Kindergarten Kickoff campaign include:

• Creating more experiential opportunities for students and families to discover, explore, and pursue.
• Reducing the burden on schools, including limiting the number of events teachers are asked to attend.
• Increasing buy-in and engagement with schools and principals.
• Staying competitive with neighboring districts.
• Increasing attendance at events earlier in the process.
• Increasing completed enrollments earlier in the process.
• Better aligning with the district’s vision for engagement through the Inspired Journey lens.

As part of these efforts, the district piloted several new events during the 2023-24 school year, including Kindergarten Adventure Day and Kinder KidFlick.

“We got rave reviews,” Becker said, noting that 97% of families who attended at least one Kindergarten Kickoff event found it helpful, and 97% said they were likely or very likely to enroll in Eden Prairie Schools after attending.

Prospective students also received a “kindergarten passport,” highlighting both kindergarten-specific and regular events taking place at their future school. When students brought the passport to any of the events, they could get it stamped by the principal. Kindergarten passports will also be part of this year’s experience.

Becker said these experiences are designed to make families feel part of the community a full year early by creating a continuous, consistent, and meaningful connection.

In addition to Kindergarten Kickoff events, the district’s plans include outreach at preschool conferences and KidStock summer events, personalized mailers to all incoming kindergarteners, plus marketing emails and recurring messages. Prospective but not-yet-enrolled families will be invited to Popsicles with the Principal summer events and will receive personal phone calls from school leaders.

Becker said the hope is that starting in 2025-26, the district can use feedback and debriefs from this year’s events to further hone their future plans and increase engagement.