How did you handle school (in U.S.) for your repatriated kids?

Muse, have you decided what to do yet?

We have the same situation with our five year old daughter.  We're planning that she will "repeat" kindergarten this coming school year.  Lots of reasons:
*All the children will be "new" and just be making friends. 
*She might be ahead of some (many?) academically at the start, but I think that will give her confidence.  She can be very shy and it'll help her if she doesn't have to struggle as much with academics. 
*We'd rather her be with her own age.  So many parents hold their children back a year with kindergarten as it is that she would be much younger than many of the kids in her class if we did skip her.
*And lots of concerns about the age gap longer term... in middle school, high school, college.

Her reception teacher was surprised that we were expecting to put her in kindergarten and said that she would do absolutely fine ("excel") in first grade.  So I'm feeling a little guilty but I think the reasons to keep her back outweigh the reasons to skip her ahead.

But all that said, I'm expecting/hoping that the school we put her in will accommodate her level and keep encouraging her, putting her in first grade classes for some lessons and giving her first grade material when she needs it.  I've heard from several people that this is common for students who are ahead of grade level.  Our school decision will depend in part on the school's willingness to do this.

Some schools do send kids to higher grades for lessons as needed. The big push in education now is to meet all the needs in one class.

I agree that talking to the school is the best way to help you make your decision. Each school is different and each teacher within the school is different as well. I'd make sure to talk to your child's teacher at the beginning of the year to let them know about the move and her experiences in Reception.

As a teacher, I find it so incredibly helpful to know as much relevant information in the beginning of the year as possible. Kids that young are pretty resilient, but it is a big change. Making sure the teacher knows about the move, as well as cultural things that may be different for your child, may help make it easier. Bring samples of your daughter's work from the UK to show her new teacher what she has already learned. That will also help the school know where she stands academically compared to her peers here.

Good luck with the move! If you want any advice from a teacher's point of view, feel free to PM me. I'm in MA, so policies may be different, but I'll try to help where I can. 

We are dealing with this now.  We we got back to the States from Belfast in Jan. I had a talk with the principal at the local school.  She was willing to let Ethan finish K this year BUT told me that "mom to mom" that she would wait and let him enter with his class.  She says that it doesn't seem to make a difference now, but would I want my kiddo  almost two years younger (most Ks here are almost six) going to parties etc with kids that much older when he was a teen.  Good point.  So, we'll have another first day of school this year!
Michele