First Steps for Newcomers to the San Francisco Bay Area. Bay Area School Systems and Enrollment Procedures

Transcription

1 First Steps for Newcomers to the San Francisco Bay Area Community Connection s First Steps information sheets answer frequently asked questions about various aspects of SF Bay Area living Bay Area School Systems and Enrollment Procedures For more information visit individual school or school district websites. Is public school free? California public schools provide free education for children from kindergarten through 12 th grade (from ages 5-18) Kindergarten is not mandatory. Which school will my child attend? Students who wish to attend public school in the Bay Area are assigned to a particular school according to their home address. Cities have their city boundaries, school districts within the cities have their boundaries as well and they may not exactly coincide. In other words, a home may be located in one city but close enough to another to be incorporated in an adjacent school district. Elementary schools and high schools may have different boundaries and school district offices. The only reliable way of finding out which school your child will attend is to verify an address with the school district before renting or buying a home. How can I determine my child s grade level? Follow these guidelines to determine the grade level for your child: Kindergarten (not mandatory) 5-6 years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade years old Grade 9 (freshman) years old Grade 10 (sophomore) years old Grade 11 (junior) years old Grade 12 (senior) years old Your child must attain the younger specified age by December 2 nd of the current school year. Schools vary as to how flexible or inflexible they are about accepting children into a grade higher than that of their age level. The social, emotional and physical development Community Connections Page 1 of 6

2 of the child is as important as the intellectual development and therefore schools generally like to place children with their peer group. It can be to a child s advantage to be old for their grade rather than young for their grade as they may do better and consequently build self-esteem. What is elementary school? Middle school? High school? Elementary schools educate students from kindergarten through 8 th grade but school districts vary in how these grades are grouped and there are many possibilities. A few schools have kindergarten through 8 th grade on the same site, other school districts have separate junior high or middle schools for the upper grades. In elementary school children may work in groups with children of the same academic ability. There may be several academic groups within a class. Most middle schools are for 7 th and 8 th grades or 6 th, 7 th and 8 th, depending on the school district. At this level some subjects are taught by specialist teachers. Children may be grouped by ability in some subjects and there is a Core Program (essential, required courses such as math, English, social studies and science) as well as elective courses (optional classes from which a student may choose such as computer, foreign language, music, art). High school is for grades 9 through 12. As with middle school, teachers are specialists, students may be grouped by ability and students follow a Core Program along with electives. Students need to pass various required classes in order to advance, and ultimately graduate. If a student fails a class, they may be able to repeat the class at summer school. There is an emphasis throughout high school on college/university preparation. Note that there is no religious observation in public school and most do not have a uniform. At all levels parent volunteers are welcome. How is the school year structured? How is the school day structured? The school year runs from late August or early September to mid June. There are about 180 school days in a year. There is also optional instruction during the summer. Kindergarten is part time only (mornings or afternoons). During the school year the school day is about 6 hours long. Homework is set in varying amounts from 1 st grade. How do I register my child for school? What documentation will I need to take? Some school districts require that the children are resident in the state before they can be registered. In other words, a parent might not be allowed to register their child before the child has actually arrived in the country for permanent residency. Proof of residency within the district is required before any attempt can be made to register a child/children in school. Proof of residency consists of a fully executed lease agreement, gas/electrical bill showing name and address of occupant or a water/garbage bill showing name and address of occupant. One or all may be required. There are no exceptions. This proof is either taken to the supposed nearest school of your newly rented Community Connections Page 2 of 6

3 home or to the school district office pertinent to the home, where you will be given a registration packet. Fill out the paperwork and return it to the school or district office. They will tell you which school your child will attend and when he can start. You will need to have: The completed registration packet (among the forms in the packet will be medical and dental assessment forms. These must be filled in by a California licensed doctor and dentist. Your child may be able to start school before he has had the examinations necessary to complete these, depending on the school, but they should be performed as soon as possible and the forms turned in to the school.) Proof of residency A birth certificate for each student A passport with resident visa stamp for each student Your child s immunization records (this should be a complete record of every immunization received since birth. This is very important as your child may not attend public school unless there is documented proof that certain immunizations have been given. For specific details of the health and immunization requirements, please see page 5 of this section.) Please note that a Mantoux tuberculosis test is required. This is a test, not an immunization, as is the BCG (given particularly in the UK and Japan). A Mantoux test taken after a BCG immunization may give a positive reading and necessitate the need for a chest x-ray. Substituting the Mantoux test with a BCG immunization is not acceptable by the school districts. What happens if our neighborhood school is full? The school district office will place your student in the next nearest school, within the district, that has available classroom space in your child s grade. What happens if there is room for one of my children but not for both? The school district will place each of your students only where there is room. They do separate siblings, if necessary. How do we enroll our children in school while in corporate housing? Community Connections has been relocating families for 28 years and it is our experience that school aged children make a better transition if they are not moved from school to school. In other words, enrolling the children in school while in corporate housing and then moving them to another school once a permanent home is selected. It is the law in California that all school aged children be enrolled in school. However, in practice we have had clients who waited to register their children in school until they were in their permanent housing. Better options are to shorten the length of time your family spends in temporary housing or to forego your time in temporary housing, come early and choose a permanent residence. What if we want our child/children to go to specific school? Community Connections Page 3 of 6

4 We encourage families not to limit their housing choices based on the hope of finding a home within a specific school boundary. Rather, focus on a particular city or town where all the schools meet your educational requirements, thus broadening your ability to find the right home. Rental home selection in the Bay Area is limited and it can and does happen that a family leases a home within the attendance boundaries of their desired school only to be disappointed when they discover that there is no room for their child there and he must attend school elsewhere. Do keep in mind that the school district office is required by law to keep your child/children within the district boundaries. What about classes for students who do not speak English or speak limited English? Bay Area schools have a program called English Language Development (ELD) or English as a Second Language (ESL), depending on the school district. Eligibility for these programs is determined by testing or interview. Children in these programs are assisted in any of several different ways ranging from special instruction in the classroom to spending part or all of their day at a school specific to the ELD program. Check with the school district office for more information about how their program is managed. What other educational options are available in the Bay Area? The Bay Area offers a variety of alternatives to the public school system. These private schools include foreign language schools, religiously affiliated schools, all boys/girls schools, college preparatory schools, boarding schools and other schools that adhere to a particular educational philosophy. When choosing public or private schools, you might like to consider the following: Class size School size Religious/moral guidance Closed or open campus (this applies to high schools and is a policy which prohibits students from leaving the campus during the school day, including lunch times.) Uniforms Parental involvement/influence Academic programs ESL, speech therapy and other specialist programs Music/instrument/band programs Curriculum content Individual attention Neighborhood school quality GATE program Community interaction Tuition or additional costs Immunization and general health examination requirements Community Connections Page 4 of 6

5 General health/dental examinations California state law requires that your child have a general health examination and an oral health assessment no more than 18 months prior to entering first grade. These exams must be performed and the required forms signed by a physician/dentist who is licensed in the state of California. These forms will be part of your registration packet or they can be obtained from your local school or school district office. Immunizations State law requires that all students entering California schools for the first time must present a medical record, signed by a physician or health care provider, which verifies the month and year given of required immunizations. In addition, all persons registering for kindergarten and students entering high school (9 th grade) for the first time must have a Mantoux test for tuberculosis. Immunization Requirements OPV Polio: OPV and/or IPV 4 doses. For ages 4-6: 3 doses meet the requirement if at least one dose was given on or after the 4 th birthday. For ages 7-17: 3 doses meet the requirement if at least one dose was given on or after the 2 nd birthday. DTP: Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis 5 doses, any combination of DPT, DTaP, HDPT, or DT. For ages 4-6: 4 doses meet the requirement if at least one dose was given on or after the 4 th birthday. Age 7 years and older: Pertussis is not required. 4 doses, any combination of Td, DT, or DTP, DTaP. For ages 7-17: 3 doses meet the requirement if at least one dose was given on or after the 2 nd birthday. A booster Td is recommended for 7 th grade entry. MMR: Measles, Mumps, Rubella 2 doses given separately or together. Required for Kindergarten entry and 7/8 th grade entry/transfer. Grades 1-6: 1 dose given separately or together. Age 7 years and older: Mumps is not required. MMR doses must be on or after the first birthday. One dose must be MMR. The other dose may be any measles containing vaccine. HepB: Hepatitis B 3 doses. Required for Kindergarten entry and 7/8 th grade entry/transfer. Community Connections Page 5 of 6

6 Varicella: Chicken Pox 1 dose or proof of the disease. Required for Kindergarten entry or student transfer from outside California. TST: Tuberculosis 1 dose. Written proof of date received, date read. Skin Test (Mantoux Method): reading in duration and millimeters. Signature of the doctor is required. TB TINE TEST IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. The TST (Mantoux) test must be read within hours of the date given to be valid. The TST must be given within eighteen months prior to entry or transfer into Kindergarten or six months prior to entry into grades 1-8. Students with a previous or current positive TST (10 millimeters or greater in duration) must submit results of a current x-ray done in the United States within the past six months. Community Connections Page 6 of 6