GCSC kindergarten roundup takes on new form amid social distancing

Kindergarten roundup has a particular look, feel and sound to it.

Dozens of parents and dozens more five- (or soon-to-be-five-) year-olds descend on an elementary school, where teachers, staff members and administrators wait to meet the new crop of kiddos.

It’s a happy time, though with a touch of chaos and volume to it.

It is certainly not a social distancing-friendly sort of event.

With such gatherings impossible in the age of COVID-19, the two Greencastle primary schools have implemented a new plan.

Instead, the staff at Deer Meadow and Ridpath have put together a survey for the parents prospective kindergartners.

“Due to the current circumstances from the pandemic, we will not be able to have our traditional kindergarten roundup,” principals Mike McHugh and Emily Johnson said in a joint statement. “We are sad that we will not be able to meet everyone this spring.”

Instead, parents of children in the Greencastle school district who will be five years old by Aug. 1 are asked to fill out a brief survey in lieu of an in-person roundup program. All information will be used for communication purposes only.

Parents are asked to go to www.greencastle.k12.in.us by May 1 and selection either Deer Meadow or Ridpath under the Schools tab.

There, they will find the survey that will help the schools prepare for the coming year.

“We look forward to hearing from you and meeting our future students in August,” the school officials said.