Early Years
| Tiffany Hill – Early Years Principal
We are excited to welcome your family to The KAUST School Early Years (EY). With a focus on building relationships, you will be greeted with a warm smile. Establishing positive relationships is vital to success for our children and their families, who entrust us to provide a setting that values fostering a strong home-school connection. The EY welcomes you with beautiful spaces, honoring the environment as the third teacher. We focus on enhancing children"s natural curiosity about the world around them. We value the uniqueness of each child as a learner and the need to create an environment that is safe and secure.
| IMPORTANT DATES
August 11: Letter from new classroom teacher
August 15: Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences
August 18: New Family Orientation
August 18: Meet the Teacher (for all students and parents)
August 19: First Day of School
September 2: Back to School Night (Adults only)
For more specific information about our school calendar, including important dates, holidays and school vacation please see our 2024-25 School Calendar.
| School Hours
Students may arrive between 7:45 a.m and 8:10 a.m. School dismissal hours are below.
| First day of school
All children"s first day of school is Monday, August 19. Student drop-off begins at 7:45 a.m. Class instruction begins promptly at 8:15 a.m. each morning. Students are counted as tardy from 8:15 a.m. Dismissal times are as follows:
Pre Kindergarten: 1:00 p.m. Kindergarten: 2:30 p.m. Grade 1: 3:00 p.m. Tuesday Early Release time 1:00 p.m.
| EY PARENT HANDBOOKOur updated handbook will be available on our website in early August. We will also share the link with you via your Open Apply account.
| GETTING TO AND FROM EARLY YEARS
Bike and WalkingStudents are allowed to walk or ride bikes to and from TKS Early Years only if they are accompanied by an adult. Students cannot walk or ride bikes to school alone.
Bus ServicesBus services are available before and after school, based on registration and availability. To register your child for the school bus service or to make any changes, please contact kg.office.coordinator@thekaustschool.org
Buses and bus stops are organized and operated by SAPTCo. An EY staff member supervises the children on each bus. Only children may ride on the school buses.
Permission to walk home from the bus stop unsupervised:Kindergarten (K3) and Grade 1 students will be allowed to walk home alone from their bus stop only if parental permission is given. Permission can be given on PowerSchool for each child.
Pre-K (K2) students must be supervised by an adult at the bus stop in the morning and picked up in the afternoon. Older siblings cannot pick up their younger PreK siblings.
If there is no one at the afternoon stop to collect your child, we will bring them back to school and will contact you to collect them. Please note that our bus supervisors can only release a child to their parents or regular caregivers. We expect children to follow appropriate behavior on the school bus.
Parent Drop-off / Pick-upIf you drive your child to school, you must park in a designated parking space and walk your child to the main entrance or to the classroom. Dropping children in the parking lot is not permitted. Parents or school staff must supervise children at all times. At dismissal time, parents should collect their child(ren) from reception in each building.
It is the responsibility of parents to communicate changes in transportation to or from the school to the homeroom teacher and reception.
| LUNCH AND SNACKDay Care services are available after school on a paid basis and provided by a separate organization, Building Blocks, which is located near to TKS Early Years campus. If you’ve registered your children, Building Blocks staff will collect them from Early Years. We ask you to confirm with Early Years reception and the teacher if your child is going directly to Building Blocks to ensure a smooth transition at the end of the day.
| AFTER SCHOOL DAYCAREDay Care services are available after school on a paid basis and provided by a separate organization, Building Blocks, which is located near to TKS Early Years campus. If you’ve registered your children, Building Blocks staff will collect them from Early Years.
We ask you to confirm with Early Years reception and the teacher if your child is going directly to Building Blocks to ensure a smooth transition at the end of the day.
To register your child for the daycare/ EY afterschool program, please contact KAUST Daycare Registrar at daycare@kaust.edu.sa
