About West Contra Costa County Public Schools

Parent Q&A

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  • Hi East Bay families!

    My post is about WCCUSD with a goal for full inclusion for a three-year-old with an IEP, touching on WCCUSD state preschool, Cameron school special ed, Richmond college prep and elementary school options for Marina Bay families who choose not to do dual-immersion at Washington elementary.

    My family and I are relocating to Richmond CA from Finland in June for my work. We will have temporary housing in Marina Bay where we expect to find a permanent home.

    Our son just turned three and has an IEP in Finland owing to Down syndrome and mild hearing loss (no hearing aids). Currently he is thriving in a fully inclusive setting - an English language daycare he has attended since he was 10 months old -  with a wonderful American 1:1 and push-in therapies. His speech is unclear but he has short individual words in three languages (primarily in English but also Finnish and Swedish - we do OPOL), and also 130+ active ASL signs. Our son loves to learn, enjoys music and snowboarding, likes to pretend count (knows 1-10 ends in 10) and recognizes phonics sounds/some letters.

    Our goal continues to be full inclusion and integration for our son, with access to the general curriculum. Now that our son just turned three, I am aware that he will qualify for special ed services through the school district (WCCUSD) after we move. We are also aware of the state preschool program, and that as per official guidance as a child with special needs/IEP he should be given priority (2nd preference, we qualify on income) admission.

    My preference is for a full-time state preschool program for full inclusion so I initially contacted Franklin preschool in Berkeley. The director at Franklin preschool was wonderful but said that while non-Berkeley residents are eligible for state preschool in Berkeley, a child with an IEP residing outside of Berkeley may receive more limited support at a BUDS preschool since they are not eligible for special Ed BUDS supports for Berkeley residents. She did speak highly of Cameron school with their special ed supports before TK and K in WCCUSD. 

    When I called the office at Cameron school, I did not get a lot of detailed information. I was told to wait until we are in the country and expect delays due to the summer. I was told they would take my son's IEP and attempt to match that initially, before a reassessment. But it was unclear what, if anything, Cameron school might have for our son before TK and K. The WCCUSD preschool website only mentions half-day state preschool offerings at other sites including Washington elementary, our neighborhood school.

    So, WCCUSD families, here's what I'd like to know:

    (1) State preschool programs - Are there any full-time state preschool programs for three-year-olds in WCCUSD schools, to continue with our full inclusion experience?  If so, please share what you know!

    (2) Cameron school - Does Cameron school offer a full-day or a half-day M-F program for three-year-olds with IEPs who are on track for full inclusion? Has the program set up your kids for inclusion success in TK and K?

    (3) Richmond college prep - Have any of your kids attended the RCP preschool or school? If so, what's been your experience? We like the program and ESY and would work with the school to bring in a 1:1 if needed.

    (4) Marina Bay families - if your kids don't do dual-immersion at Washington elementary, does WCCUSD then offer a place in one of the  El Cerrito elementary schools? 

    Thanks in advance!

    No responses received.

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  • Hello 👋 need help and suggestions! Currently I am looking for good enough charter schools and district schools for my son who will be 5 years old next year. We live in Pinole area. The schools can be from Hercules to Oakland areas (for school district is within West Contra Costa). Any recommendations what they are? And tips how to look? We just recently had a IEP meeting and plan to bring the updated IEP report to share to the school and come to check out the school. Any tips on this?

    Check out Valley View Elementary! It's in Richmond/El Sobrante. My child has had an IEP since she started speech and OT through the district at age 3. The staff and teachers have been very open to parent input and requested accommodations. It's a small, friendly school and it might be transitioning into a project based/experiential learning model which I think will be more engaging. 

  • My family is moving to Richmond and our first grader will attend Mira Vista School.  We're looking for after school programs and are having a hard time finding anything.  The free, school based program is at capacity with no availability.  We do not think Berkeley JCC will pick up at Mira Vista.  Any advice?   

    Hi, we are in the same boat with an incoming K! We enrolled him at Little Tree Montessori, which has an after school program that will pick up from Mira Vista and walk the kids to LT. Our daughter (4th) was able to get a spot at the school for this year, and I’m hopeful the program will grow as if we can end this pandemic and staffing can return to normal levels. 

    Try TG Learning Center or El Cerrito Martial Arts. Both offer afterschool programs and may offer pick-up from El Cerrito schools. My daughter did taekwondo at TG and a few of her friends did their afterschool program and they are great.

    I would look at Little Tree Montessori’s aftercare program, which is on Barrett Ave in El Cerrito and I believe very close to Mira Vista (they may even do after school pickup). Another option might be El Cerrito Martial Arts which also offered an after-school care program.

    Our children are now grown, but they went to a family daycare near Mira Vista that also had an after school program. That could be a place to look as well. 

  • We are moving just a few blocks away, but this has shifted our school zone to Kensington Hilltop rather than El Cerrito. My rising kindergartener is not enrolled there, and I understand that they are at capacity for the fall. This is our first experience of the public school system. I would like to know how it works if your child is placed on the waitlist but does not get into their zoned school in this case. Does she get placed in the closest local school with space? (Harding and Madera are both also at capacity already.) Is it a totally random and inscrutable assignment/process? When do you find out? I know that Kensington has been oversubscribed for many years and thus, there must be many out there who have experienced this confusion before. Would love some guidance. Thank you.

    Please note "El Cerrito" is not a school zone. But I take your question to mean that you have moved out of the zone of one of the EC elementaries into Hilltop's zone; they are all in the same district, WCCUSD. Go to the office of the school you were enrolled at (most will be open next week) and discuss with the staff there, bringing your new proof of residency docs. They will call Hilltop for you and get the staff's direction on how to proceed. The instructions kind of vary year to year. Harding is not at capacity. Madera and Fairmont are. I have no idea about Hilltop. You should be aware that you are now a late registrant and may not find out your placement until right around the start of the school year if you don't want to stay where you were enrolled.

    We applied for an intra-district transfer during open enrollment to a number of schools, and were told over the phone by the district that all the kindergartens in EC were full, and that they were developing a plan for the "overflow". We received a wait-list spot at Harding, with no further information since the official letter. It appears the story from WCCUSD is not consistent. At this point, with many schools planning kindergarten welcome events, we've had to make back-up plans for the back-up to the back-up. To many parents I've spoken with who have children entering K or who did so in the past couple of years, school enrollment can be difficult with little transparency at the district level.

    I agree with the earlier poster that maintaining communication with the individual schools is the most important thing you can do at this point.

Since in your district 6th grade is a time of school change, you might want to consider a transfer to a school in the West Contra Costa district, where 6th grade is still in elementary school and there are a couple of K-8 options. In our experience, this made the social component a lot less stressful. It is also so much easier on the 6th grade students to remain with one teacher rather than having five. Good luck.

I agree with the previous poster! Schools in West Contra Costa and San Leandro/Hayward may not have great test scores, but many of the students do very well and the schools are very diverse. In fact, Korematsu Middle School in El Cerrito is the 4th most ethnically diverse middle school in the entire US. The basic curriculum is the same at every public school in California.