Kindergarten Enrollment Questions

[Oliver]

We are now one of the many families trying to make sense of the public school enrollment process. We live within walking distance of Gatewood Elementary. I had therefore assumed that would be our “default” school (which I now know is referred to as the “reference” school). However, the map has been divided so that our “reference” school is West Seattle (High Point) Elementary and we are in the North Cluster while Gatewood is in the South Cluster.

As I understand it, you list three schools and a series of rules are applied to determine where your kid is assigned. You have a good chance of getting assigned to a school if it is your reference school or close to your house if it is in the same cluster. So, as I interpret these rules, we would have no priority applied to the school closest to our house (Gatewood) because it’s not in our cluster? Do I have that right?

Are people willing to share their comments about the local elementary schools? What I typically hear is that south cluster schools range from terrible to ok, while north cluster schools are excellent with the exception of West Seattle elementary? Do you agree?

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[pam]

The important thing to do, if you haven’t done this already, is to attend PTA meetings of the schools you are interested in. Getting a feel of the parent involvement is as important as the rest. Schools will have already set up the tour schedule, call after January 5th to make an appointment.

It’s been a while since I had to figure out the enrollment process, I am sure others will be of more help for that. They do change the rules all the time, which is frustrating.

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[mom2soren]

Attending PTA meetings doesn’t help your chances of getting in though, does it? If the public school system does not assign the child to Gatewood, then the child has zero chance of attending Gatewood, correct?

Thanks for any input.

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[add]

If you do not get into your first choice school, you can be added to a waiting list. The lists tend to move pretty quickly as many adjustments are made during the timeframe from assignment (May) to first day of school.

You can try reading about the enrollment/assignment process on the district’s website (www.seattleschools.org) – they are working on changing the assignment plan but I’m not sure when any changes are supposed to take effect, maybe next year (2010-11)?

The best way to choose a school is to visit, and to talk to teachers/parents of students currently enrolled. Go to the official tours but also ask to come by on a regular day. Even the reception you get to that idea will tell you something about the school. Attending PTA meetings is a good idea, too – nothing really “helps your chances” of getting in beyond the stated criteria the district uses, but it will give you a good flavor of the school’s environment.

Good luck!

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[Que]

I would not recommend going to a PTA meeting. It won’t tell you much about the kid’s experience in the classroom or about the teachers. It will only tell you about what is most pressing RIGHT NOW to the parents, and out of context, that can be very confusing and not representative of the school on the whole.

You are correct that going to a PTA meeting will not increase your odds of going to that school. I would echo ADD’s advice and say go on the tours, talk to parents on the playground, read the material, search your soul, look at what you really think is important about education (i.e. traditional academics, alternative, somewhere in the middle?) what is important to you about the community of the school (proximity to home, diversity, good parent involvement), look at logistics (in cluster or not, busing, walking or driving)….

Look at all of those things together and you will be able to figure it out.

Oh, and don’t forget to breathe. That is really important through this process.

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[ebaer]

One other tip… Make sure you have a safety school in those 3 – one that you are pretty sure you will get into. If you don’t get into any of the 3 you pick, they will just assign you to a school -usually your reference area school, but not always.

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[OlMom]

The Seattle Public Schools enrollment process is a nightmare with several layers including sibling preference, reference school, actual distance to the school and now apparently the addition of preference to students that are displaced due to their school or program closing. My advice to you is to tour the schools and determine which school is the best choice for your child. If there is a school that you do not want your child to attend that school should not be one of your three choices. You can be placed on one waitlist but I have not heard of much success in getting in after being on the waitlist.

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[Author]

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