{
  "id": "grade-by-year",
  "version": "de8c62c8fa81",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Grade by Year Calculator",
  "question": "What grade was I in that school year?",
  "summary": "Finds what grade you (or a child) were in, or will be in, during any year from a birthday and the kindergarten cutoff date, with a year-by-year list from kindergarten to 12th grade.",
  "category": "education",
  "subcategory": "grades",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/education/grade-by-year-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/education/grade-by-year-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Kindergarten starts in the fall of year K = birth year + 5 (cutoff in July to December) or + 4 (January to June), plus 1 if the birthday falls after the cutoff, plus any years held back. In the fall of year Y the grade is Y − K; in the spring of Y it is Y − 1 − K (0 is kindergarten).",
  "assumptions": [
    "US schools: kindergarten, then grades 1 to 12, one grade per school year; a school year starts in late summer or fall and ends in spring.",
    "The cutoff is the state or district date by which a child must be 5; September 1 is the most common (NCES Table 5.3)."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "b": {
        "title": "Birthday",
        "description": "The date of birth.",
        "type": "string",
        "format": "date"
      },
      "y": {
        "title": "Year",
        "description": "The calendar year to look up, such as 2010.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1900,
        "maximum": 2200
      },
      "cm": {
        "title": "Cutoff month",
        "description": "The month of the kindergarten cutoff: a child must be 5 on or before the cutoff date.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "1",
          "2",
          "3",
          "4",
          "5",
          "6",
          "7",
          "8",
          "9",
          "10",
          "11",
          "12"
        ]
      },
      "cd": {
        "title": "Cutoff day",
        "description": "The day of the month of the cutoff date; September 1 is the most common.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 31
      },
      "a": {
        "title": "Years held back or skipped",
        "description": "Years started late or repeated (+1, +2) or grades skipped (−1, −2); 0 if none.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": -3,
        "maximum": 3
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "fall": {
      "label": "Fall of the year",
      "description": "The grade in the school year that starts in the fall of the year.",
      "format": "text"
    },
    "spring": {
      "label": "Spring of the year",
      "description": "The grade in the school year that ends in the spring of the year.",
      "format": "text"
    },
    "kindergarten": {
      "label": "Kindergarten",
      "description": "The school year of kindergarten.",
      "format": "text"
    },
    "classOf": {
      "label": "High school class of",
      "description": "Kindergarten fall year + 13.",
      "format": "text"
    },
    "list": {
      "label": "Year by year",
      "description": "Each grade from kindergarten to 12th with its school year.",
      "format": "text"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "b": "2000-03-15",
      "y": 2010,
      "cm": "9",
      "cd": 1,
      "a": 0
    },
    "outputs": {
      "fall": "5th grade (2010–11)",
      "spring": "4th grade (2009–10)",
      "kindergarten": "2005–06",
      "classOf": "2018",
      "list": "Kindergarten: 2005–06; 1st grade: 2006–07; 2nd grade: 2007–08; 3rd grade: 2008–09; 4th grade: 2009–10; 5th grade: 2010–11; 6th grade: 2011–12; 7th grade: 2012–13; 8th grade: 2013–14; 9th grade: 2014–15; 10th grade: 2015–16; 11th grade: 2016–17; 12th grade: 2017–18"
    },
    "text": "In the fall of the year: 5th grade (2010–11); in the spring: 4th grade (2009–10)."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "b": "2000-03-15",
        "y": 2010,
        "cm": "9",
        "cd": 1,
        "a": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "fall": "5th grade (2010–11)",
        "spring": "4th grade (2009–10)",
        "kindergarten": "2005–06",
        "classOf": "2018"
      },
      "source": "NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, as in California, Florida and Texas), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-05); hand calculation in content.mdx: 2010 − 2005 = 5"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "b": "2000-09-02",
        "y": 2010,
        "cm": "9",
        "cd": 1,
        "a": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "fall": "4th grade (2010–11)",
        "kindergarten": "2006–07",
        "classOf": "2019"
      },
      "source": "NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, as in California, Florida and Texas), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-05); hand calculation in content.mdx: 5 on September 2, 2005, after the cutoff"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "b": "1995-12-20",
        "y": 2014,
        "cm": "1",
        "cd": 1,
        "a": 0
      },
      "expect": {
        "fall": "out of high school (class of 2013) (2014–15)",
        "spring": "out of high school (class of 2013) (2013–14)",
        "kindergarten": "2000–01"
      },
      "source": "NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, as in California, Florida and Texas), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-05); hand calculation in content.mdx"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "b": "2019-06-01",
        "y": 2022,
        "cm": "9",
        "cd": 1,
        "a": 1
      },
      "expect": {
        "fall": "not in school yet (kindergarten starts fall 2025) (2022–23)",
        "kindergarten": "2025–26"
      },
      "source": "NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3: kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018 (most states: 5 on or before a cutoff date, often September 1, as in California, Florida and Texas), https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp (retrieved 2026-10-05); hand calculation in content.mdx: 2019 + 5 = 2024, held back a year: 2025"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "NCES, State Education Reforms, Table 5.3, Kindergarten entrance age by state, 2018: most states require a child to be 5 on or before a cutoff date, most often September 1 (California, Florida, Texas and others); Connecticut uses January 1; some states leave it to districts. Retrieved 2026-10-05. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_3.asp"
  ],
  "related": [
    "graduation-year",
    "how-old-am-i",
    "chronological-age"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}