Burke County schools open for enrollment applications

Enrollment is officially open for upcoming kindergarten, Pre-K, and STEPS Academy students entering Burke County Public Schools, meaning early-bird parents can get their students on track for next school year and clear it off the to-do list.

Parents of soon-to-be-kindergarteners should first check their address at gis.burkenc.org by entering their address in the “Search by Address” field. The corresponding school districts will be at the bottom of the results on the left side of the page.

After determining their district school, parents can go to the BCPS Enrollment page, scroll midway down the page, and click the “2026-27 Kindergarten Online Enrollment” button and follow the steps from there.

Students must be 5 years old before Aug. 31 to be eligible.

To enroll a kindergarten student, parents or guardians need to have a few items ready, including:

• Their license
• Their student’s birth certificate or other proof of their age, such as a student ID, a baptism certificate, passport, or something similar
• A copy of an NC Health assessment completed by the guardian and a healthcare provider, provided within the first 30 days of enrollment
• Original immunization records from the child’s doctor or the health department
• Three proofs of residency such as a current utility bill, mortgage payment, or vehicle registration

Burke County Public Schools Board Policy 4120-R specifies other items that would be considered “proof of residency,” and can be found at v3.boardpolicyonline.com/b/bl/burke/s/1403628.

Students entering take a short DIAL (Development Indicators for the Assessment of Learning) screening assessment before starting the grade, intended to determine how the child’s developmental skills compare against a national standard.

PRE-K

Pre-K parents have fewer hurdles to overcome, as long as their children are 4 years old by Aug. 31.

Applications can be picked up at any elementary school or found at burke.k12.nc.us/curricululm-instruction/preschool. A birth certificate and proof of income are required when applying.

According to the BCPS site, acceptance is based on income eligibility and other aspects, but vouchers are available through the Department of Social Services and Child Care Connections for families not meeting the NC Pre-K criteria.

The criteria, per the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, require that a family’s income be at or below 75% of the state median income. The United States Census Bureau reported the state median income to be $73,958 in North Carolina in the 2024 survey.

The district also allows private pay for Pre-K for children ages 3 and 4, with priority given to 4-year-olds.

STEPS Academy

STEPS (Strategically Teaching and Engaging Preschool Students) Academy is a partnership program between BCPS and Smart Start, an early childhood education program offered across the state.

Depending on available spots, toddlers can enroll at any time during the school year once they turn 3. STEPS Academy operates two days a week for two and a half hours each day.

This program is free for Burke County students and is offered at Forest Hill Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, and Hildebran Elementary.

District officials said interested parents can contact Jacquie Grady at 828-502-9941 for availability and more information.

The STEPS Academy application can also be found at burke.k12.nc.us/curricululm-instruction/preschool.

CLOSED TO TRANSFERS

While enrollment for early education opened for younger students, the district is also reviewing transfer requests across grade levels. The transfer request fee is $50 through May 1, and $100 after that date.

According to the BCPS website, “All rising 6th and 9th graders currently on an approved transfer who wish to remain in the same school feeder pattern, must complete a new Request for Transfer for middle and high school.”

The nonrefundable fee is required for these transfer requests as well.

The application can be printed or filled out online at burke.k12.nc.us/parents/transfer-application. A hyperlink labeled as “MySchoolBucks” is also on that site, allowing guardians to pay the transfer fees online.

Several schools and grade levels are closed to transfers:

• Mountain View Elementary
• North Liberty School
• Heritage Middle School (closed for seventh graders)
• Liberty Middle School (closed for seventh and eighth graders)
• Freedom High School