Newcomer

Eligibility and approval must be obtained from the NDSP prior to enrolling dependents in a non-DoD school.

The following conditions must exist to establish eligibility for Non-DoD Schools Program support:

1. Sponsor must be a military service member serving on active duty and stationed overseas on Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, or a civilian employee of the Department of Defense who is employed on a permanent full-time basis, assigned overseas, and is either a citizen or a national of the United States.
2. Sponsors must be authorized to transport dependents (Who is the child, stepchild, adopted child, or ward of a DoD sponsor, residing with the sponsor, and is eligible for other command sponsorship services, postal services privileges, and meets the minimum age criteria *) to or from an overseas area at government expense, and
3. Sponsors must be provided an allowance for living quarters in that area.
4. Sponsors must be assigned to and reside in a location outside the commuting area of a DoDEA operated school.

Eligible dependents must meet the following age criteria:

1. For Northern Hemisphere calendar schools (Aug – July) Dependents must turn four years old on or before 30 September of the enrollment year. For families assigned to locations with schools that commonly follow a Southern Hemisphere calendar schedule (Jan/Feb to December), a child must be at least three years, eight months old by the beginning of the selected educational institution’s school year. If enrolling in Prekindergarten (PK), the selected school must offer both kindergarten and a U.S. equivalent of first grade.
   • For dependents between the ages of three and four with special education needs identified through Child Find, or with an established and active Individual Education Plan (IEP) requiring PK services
2. Dependents who have not completed secondary school and will not reach their 21st birthday by September 1 of the current school year (or February 1 in the southern hemisphere)