Move to Oakland; in district school & enrollment

Hi there, 

We're looking at possibly moving to Oakland in the next month or so.  We are looking at homes in the public school districts we'd want them to attend, but...don't know the enrollment processes, etc.  If we move into a specific school district, will our daughter be able to go to that school, or could it be impacted by the lottery system (which I know just a little about), especially since we may be a little late. Thanks!

Parent Replies

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I have a family member that works for EFC and I have friends that work in OUSD. My daughter is just entering kinder this year (August 2019) so I'm new to this as well. I  do believe the way it works is as follows

  1. Alumni families
  2. siblings of those attending 
  3. living in district or closest by address
  4. everyone else

A SIGNIFICANT amount of public schools are closing down this year, and there is a lottery for most charter schools. You can apply to as many as you want, but it's random choice in which ones you're offered a position in or on the waitlist. 

You can apply to both public and private charter schools from the same site and there is a really useful tool on the website that can help you filter through schools by what you're looking for or location or both. The same site also provides details to the schools past year performance, demographics, and any citations etc. So I would say explore the site and ACTUALLY VISIT some of the schools you're interested in!

From the OUSD website https://www.ousd.org/Page/17066:

Students that apply on time are assigned to schools through a lottery, based on the school choices indicated on their enrollment application and taking into account OUSD placement priorities. The process is designed to provide each student equitable access to the range of opportunities available throughout the District. Students are placed in their highest ranked school if there are openings at that school.  
 

If there are more requests for a school than openings, the student placement process uses a series of priorities to determine the assignment the student will receive.  
 

Prioritization is given to students who:

  • first: have a sibling(s) in a school, that will continue at the school during 2018-19
  • second: live within the neighborhood boundaries of the desired school.

All remaining applicants that are not prioritized by sibling or neighborhood will be placed into the general lottery. Parents are encouraged to select six elementary schools or three middle/high schools they wish their child to attend to ensure that their child receives one of their selections.

Just to address one of the previous replies, it is worth clarifying that OUSD prioritizes siblings of current students who will still be attending the school, and then students living within the school's attendance boundary. Alumni families do not get any priority in the lottery (unfortunately!) and proximity to the school also does not matter if you are not zoned to it (also unfortunately!) There is one middle school closing and another long-planned merger of two West Oakland elementary schools--but no other District schools are closing this year (fortunately!)

To your specific question, though--you have a strong chance of getting a spot at most elementary schools even with a late application because you keep your neighborhood priority so will be at the top of the list. A few schools don't have room for neighborhood kids who are zoned to the school (e.g., Peralta, Crocker Highlands) so those would be more of a gamble since there may still be neighborhood families with on-time applications who are waiting for spots. But at most other schools, you have a very good chance of getting into the school. Just apply as soon as possible once your address is established--the lottery lists are already moving.