Child Find
Child Find Notice
- Are you worried about your child’s development?
- Does your child have a medical disorder or birth defect that interferes with their development?
- Does your child seem to have hearing or vision issues?
- Does your child have difficulty communicating with people outside the family?
- Does your child have difficulty keeping up with other children their age?
- Does your child have concerning behaviors?
Any child, birth to five, whose family or caregivers have concerns about their child’s development and lives in Olympia School District boundaries can contact our office to receive a free Child Find Screening.*
OSD Child Find Notice Flyer
What happens during a Child Find Screening?
The purpose of a Child Find Screening is to identify issues that may affect your child’s learning, growth, and development and to help parents identify their child’s strengths and weaknesses.
During the screening, your child may stack small blocks, cut with scissors, draw, count, name colors, jump, and have fun! You may also be asked questions about your child's development and medical background.
After the screening, someone will talk to you about the results and you may be given suggestions, a referral for more testing, or scheduled to have skills rechecked later. You will have the chance to ask any questions about your child’s development. The whole process takes about one hour.
Where can I go for screening?
All school districts in Washington State have Child Find Screenings available.
For more information and to schedule a screening in your school district, please contact:
- Olympia School District Early Learning 24/7 Message Line at (360) 596-7539
- Olympia School District Early Learning Email at earlylearning@osd.wednet.edu
If your family is living in a temporary situation, you may contact the local district for a screening.
*South Sound Parent to Parent is the Washington State Early Intervention Provider Agency for students age 0, 1, and 2 years old for students who live in the Olympia metropolitan area but do not reside within Olympia School District Boundaries. Please contact South Sound Parent to Parent at (360) 352-1126 or use their website to refer your child for services.
WAC 392-172A-02040 - School districts shall conduct child find activities calculated to reach all students with a suspected disability for the purpose of locating, evaluating and identifying students who are in need of special education and related services, regardless of the severity of their disability.
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Olympia School District’s Early Support Services (also known as “Infant-Toddler”) program is located at McKenny Elementary School and provides services to families of children with disabilities from birth up to age 3. Services are primarily provided through a family coaching model.
Services and supports are available to families of eligible students who reside within the district's boundaries. A combination of home visits, toddler groups, therapy appointments, and parenting education programs may be provided to children and families depending on their need.
When a child is referred for this program, the Early Support Services team may complete screening and evaluation in these areas:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Cognitive Skills
- Social/Emotional Skills
- Adaptive Skills
- Motor Skills
- Communication Skills
Early Support Services Contact Information
Denise Kiers
Family Resource Coordinator
360-515-6283
Deborah Morton
Family Resource Coordinator
360-728-6859
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Complete our Intake form to place your child on the 2026-2027 school year waitlist!
Olympia School District provides a continuum of special education services for children ages 3-5 years old. The following preschool programs are available in the Olympia School District:
- Community Integrated Support (CIS)
- Developmental Preschool
- Children with Special Needs
- Community Peers
- Intensive Preschool
- Preschool Information
Community Integrated Support (CIS)
Community Integrated Support provide special education services to children in their community-based regular early childhood program. These services consist of direct services to students as well as consultation for early childhood providers and families.
CIS is the least intensive special education preschool model available in the Olympia School District. Services may be provided by a special education teacher and paraprofessional in the student’s community-based regular early childhood program located in OSD boundaries.
Regular early childhood programs are defined as public and private child care centers but do not include home-based daycare settings. Regular early childhood providers who are interested in these services at their center are encouraged to participate in our Coordinated Enrollment meetings.
Developmental Preschool
- Children with Special Needs
- Community Peers
Developmental Preschool is an integrated special education preschool program designed to meet the needs of students with disabilities. These flexible programs provide services to the majority of preschool-age children with disabilities in Olympia School District. Each classroom has up to 9 students with disabilities and up to 9 Community Peers. Students attend this program for 2.5 hours per day 4 days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday). A variety of curricula are used to meet the diverse needs of the learners in this setting. Depending on a student’s needs, additional therapy services may be integrated into their program.
Children with Special Needs
Students with developmental concerns may be referred at any time for evaluation by family or community members. Developmental evaluations address skills in cognition, communication, motor, social and adaptive skills. Evaluations are conducted by a multidisciplinary team. Eligibility is based on federal and state regulations. Students who qualify for specially designed instruction may receive support from special education preschool teachers, speech/language therapists, occupational/physical therapists, and other specialists based on individual needs. Students eligible for and in need of specially designed instruction will have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) describing the student's goals, supports and services. There is no tuition associated with Special Education services, and transportation is provided within school district boundaries. To refer a child due to developmental concerns, call 360-596-7539, email earlylearning@osd.wednet.edu, or click on our Intake Form link above.
Community Peers
Community Peers must be 3 years old prior to September 1st to enroll. Enrollment priority is given to students living in each school's attendance area. There is no school district transportation available for Community Peers. The district maintains a “waiting list” for Community Peers for both the current and upcoming school year. If you are interested in a Community Peer spot for this year, we will place your child’s name and contact information on our waitlist. Call 360-596-7539 or email earlylearning@osd.wednet.edu, or click on our Intake Form link above.
Tuition for Community Peer spaces during the 2026-2027 school year is $265 per month, due on the 1st of each month, through June. Reduced tuition is available for families who meet USDA Child Nutrition Program Income Guidelines. Parents paying tuition will sign a Family Commitment Agreement with the school district. Families whose students fall in the "at-risk" category, based on developmental screening, may be eligible for tuition-free enrollment using Title 1 resources.
OSD offers Developmental Preschool at several of our elementary schools:
West Olympia
East Olympia
Intensive Preschool
Olympia School District’s Intensive Preschool Program is designed to meet the special education needs of students with foundational communication and social-emotional needs. This program is highly structured, offers a high staff-to-student ratio, has opportunities for full-day services, and offers less access to non-disabled peers than Developmental Preschool. This program utilizes an ABA (applied behavior analysis) approach that incorporates Discrete Trial Training, Pivotal Response Training, and Functional Routines.
OSD offers Intensive Preschool at the following schools:
West Olympia
East Olympia
Preschool Information
- First day of preschool is Monday, September (coming soon!)
- Developmental and Intensive preschool students attend class four days per week. Classes are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. There is no preschool on Wednesday. There is no preschool on district early release days.
- 2026-2027 Community Peer Tuition Rates
- Tuition for Community Peer students is $265 monthly payments September - June Reduced tuition for families who meet free and reduced lunch criteria is $75 monthly payments September - June.
- Pay Tuition - Online Payment Portal
- Transportation is not provided for Community Peer students
- 2026-2027 Developmental Preschool Calendar
For Out-of-District Families Interested in Enrolling in an OSD Preschool:
In accordance with Olympia School District Policy/Procedure 3141, any student who resides outside the district and wishes to attend an OSD school—preschool included—must submit a transfer request.
This applies to both new applicants and those renewing an existing transfer (for students already attending an OSD school outside their designated attendance area).
To be considered for a preschool transfer, please complete the Preschool Transfer Form.
Once a decision has been made, you will be notified via email by the District Office.
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Complete our Intake Form to place your child on the 2026-2027 school year waitlist!
ECEAP offers no-cost preschool options to eligible children and families. Services include instruction using a developmentally-appropriate curriculum from certified staff, transportation, meals, and family support. Olympia School District will be continuing to pilot ECEAP preschool at Garfield Elementary School for the 2025-2026 school year due to high community interest and demand.
ECEAP is designed to meet the needs of students and families who meet low-income criteria or are experiencing other barriers to participation in early childhood programming. Enrollment will be prioritized for those families exhibiting the greatest need for services based on a review of multiple risk factors. Families who apply will need to complete an intake interview to determine their eligibility for the program.
Garfield Elementary School will host OSD's school-day regular ECEAP pilot program. This school-day classroom will be staffed by a certificated teacher and assistant teacher. The program includes meals for students, family support, and transportation to and from the school. Part-day special education services are provided to eligible students in that classroom.
Families interested in enrollment can complete our intake form linked above or contact the Early Learning department at 360-596-7539 or earlylearning@osd.wednet.edu.
Thank you for your support as we work to build this pilot ECEAP program. OSD is lucky to have Puget Sound Educational Service District 121 (PSESD) as a partner during this implementation process. Please feel free to call or email us with any questions!
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Complete our Intake form to place your child on the 2026-2027 school year waitlist!
Transition to Kindergarten (TTK) provides free full-day schooling for students who do not have access to other early childhood programs. This program is designed to support students who face barriers to future school success. Students can be eligible to participate in this program prior to their kindergarten year.
OSD's TTK program is designed to meet the needs of students who do not have access to other early childhood programs. Olympia School District is committed to non-competition with community-based regular early childhood programs. We invite Olympia-area providers to visit our website for more information about our program and to learn how to participate in coordinated enrollment.
- Parent Information
- Community Regular Early Childhood Providers
- Referral for Transition to Kindergarten
All students deserve access to quality early childhood programming before they start kindergarten. While there are several community-based early childhood programs in Olympia, current data indicates that there is a significant number of students who are not accessing programming before they enter kindergarten.
OSD hopes to help address this need with Transition to Kindergarten and is focused on identifying children who face barriers to school success and have not had access to a regular early childhood program.
Participating students will have access to a full-day program that is designed to prepare them for kindergarten. The teacher and paraprofessional in the classroom will use a developmentally-appropriate curricula. Lunch and recess will be incorporated into the daily schedule, and transportation will be available for students who live in the school's attendance area.
Students must meet the following criteria:
- Students who do not have access to a regular early childhood program and
- Are age-eligible to attend (birthdays September 1, 2021 - August 31, 2022)
Priority access will be granted to the following situations:
- The student's family income meets free and reduced meal requirements.
- The student's family speaks multiple languages.
- The student's family is experiencing housing instability.
- The student's family comes from another historically marginalized population
- The students family meets one of the priority criteria listed above and lives within the school's attendance area
Community Early Childhood Providers
Olympia School District values the work our community providers do to prepare our students for kindergarten! Olympia has a diverse and flourishing group of early childhood providers that is essential for our community to function. Thank you all for the hard work that you do every day!
OSD's Transition to Kindergarten program is committed to non-competition for student attendance as one of our core beliefs. Because of this, OSD will only admit children who do not have access to a regular early childhood program into our TTK program. At the same time, we must work to seek out eligible students who are unable to access a program to prepare them for kindergarten.
Washington State defines a “regular early childhood program” as follows:
“Regular early childhood program means a program that includes fifty percent or more children who do not have an IEP. Programs may include, but are not limited to, the following: Head start; early childhood education and assistance program (ECEAP); transitional kindergarten; kindergarten; preschool classes offered to an eligible prekindergarten population by the public school system; private kindergartens or preschools; group child development centers; or child care.”
Please note that home-based daycare programs are not considered to be regular early childhood programs per federal guidelines.
In order to avoid local competition, OSD will engage in coordinated enrollment with area providers. This system of coordinated enrollment will work to route interested families to the appropriate early childhood program to meet their needs. This includes both public and private community-based regular early childhood programs!
If you are interested in having your name added to our communication list for coordinated enrollment, please email earlylearning@osd.wednet.edu.
OSD currently has a Transition to Kindergarten classroom located at the following schools:
West Olympia
East Olympia
Transition to Kindergarten Information
- First day of TTK is Wednesday, September 9th
- TTK follows the district calendar for early release and non-school days
- Transportation is not provided for students who reside outside of the Madison and LP Brown Elementary school boundaries