Transitional Kindergarten in Oakland
Hello Dear Parents,
I have a 3.5 year old daughter. Her birthday is in November. She is eligible for transitional kindergarten. She is my only daughter and I am a foreign citizen. The school system is such an unknown for me. There are so many mixed information like lottery,neighborhood based transfer such as such. They sound an alien language at the moment.
We live in North Oakland and the closest transitional kindergarten has 1 out of 10 in great schools web page. It really looks bad from outside as well.There are good TKs like Thornhill or Montclair but they are 3 miles away from our current rental. Is it possible to choose those good schools as our choice in the application? Do we have any chance that we might get in? If so, we will just stay in our current rentals. If that is not possible, we need to move out to a good school district in North Berkeley, which is a big hassle and almost impossible with our dog. We cannot afford a private school either.
I would appreciate if you could show me a roadmap during this TK application procedure to get in a good TK. I want her to go to a good school where she will love learning and social as much as possible and love schools.
Thanks a lot
Parent Replies
I wouldn't put too much stock in the Great Schools website assessment - it looks pretty inaccurate to me, and the parent reviews are almost all glowing. We have known several Emerson families who have all been really happy there, including with the TK program. Emerson has been steadily improving over the years and I predict will be hard to get into within the next few years as the demographics of the neighborhood change. The school our kids went to, Peralta Elementary, was similarly low-scored on the Great Schools site, and it's an incredibly in-demand school now. Parent involvement at Peralta made a huge difference, and I believe there is a very engaged parent group at Emerson as well. I would tour the school, meet with the principal, and seek out some PTA members to talk to before writing it off.
Unfortunately, the deadline for OUSD has passed and school assignments have already been made. Montclair Elem TK had a long waitlist and I know many who did not get in. It won't hurt to try but I think it's a long shot now. If you are not working or have flexible hours, MCPC (also in Montclair) is a co-op based school where parents volunteer hours to offset cost, and they have a TK program. Their preschool program may be a bit difficult to get into, but I think their TK program is not so bad since there are completely free, public school options.
We are zoned for Thornhill. My oldest did TK there and my youngest will also do TK. The OUSD options process allows you to rank schools outside of your zone, although siblings and neighborhood kids are supposed to have priority enrollment. Not every school offers TK, and there were a number of non-neighborhood kids in my daughter's class. The thing about TK is that it is optional, so you could go in to the enrollment process with the idea that if you don't get into a school that you want, you will just stay in your current preschool. FWIW, some friends of ours sent their daughter to a TK program that was rated a "1" because they were planning to enroll her in private school starting in K. They had a positive experience. Even outside of TK, the OUSD options process takes patience, which sometimes means dealing with uncertainty about where your kid will end up through the first week or two of school.
Hello! Yes, the process can be very confusing! I’m not sure if you are aware of this requirement, but TK was created for kids who are turning five in the fall, not for kids turning 4. If your daughter is 3.5 and will be 4 in November 2018, she is not eligible for TK until Fall of 2019. TK for this Fall is for kids born between Sept 2 and Dec.2 of 2013. There are some very good schools with low scores—Melrose Leadership Academy is one of them. When the time comes, you can put whatever your first choice is; it doesn’t have to be the school closest to you. People very very often get their first choice! I hope this reply is helpful!
This is from the OUSD website:
What is Transitional Kindergarten (TK)?
Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a full day class OUSD offers for students whose birthdate is between September 2, 2013 and December 2, 2013.