Nimco

Hi, so it looks like we are going to be moving to san jose/ bay area on h1b this autumn! I am trying to get my head around schooling and I need some advice!
I understand the earliest we can arrive is 10 days before 1st oct ie mid way thru term. any ideas on how I can try and ensure she has a place in school for when we arrive? When does term start? What is the cut off for age? my daughters birthday is mid December when she will be 7. she would be in year 2 if we stayed in uk. She is very bright and ahead of her peers in uk so I am worried she will be bored if she effectively has to go down a year.

My son will be 5 next jan but I understand the US system wont let u start school till 5 although if we stayed in uk son would be starting reception in sept. are there 'academic' pre schools that will support him reading and writing? What is the difference between preschool and kindergarten? Are there schools that have pre s or K attached so my kids could go to same place?

Ideally we would like to stay in public school system but could probably just about afford private if needs be.
Thanks for your help!

penguinsix

You can start here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Educat...s_in_school%3F

In many places in the US, kindergarten = Grade 1 in the UK as far as the curriculum and subjects covered. It will be highly dependent on where you are living and where you are coming from. If the child is ahead of their peers, they keep them in the same class socially but may track them into more advanced 'gifted' classes or subjects from time to time.

In some districts they offer K-4, which is 4 year old kindergarten. You'll need to check with your district when you arrive.

Places are based on where you live, down to which side of the street. By and large, if you live in the area for that school, you are going there, even if you arrive mid-term. This is **extremely** important as you select your housing.

jackattack

I believe in California that K-4 typically means a school which takes kids from Kindergarten through 4th Grade, here the kindergarten for 4 year olds is called Transitional Kindergarten. The schools here are quite specific about exactly when your kids birthday is to be eligible to go into regular kindergarten, transitional kindergarten or wait another year. Check out this info:
http://www.sjusd.org/enrollment-regi...-kindergarten/

Something else which could be quite useful for you is this:
http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...30139%2C10%2C1
Gives you an indication as to which schools you might want to locate near. You can then narrow your choice and do the necessary research on how that school district operates.
Much of San Jose itself isn't that great but there are pockets with good or great schools close by. House prices correlate quite closely with school performance!

jackattack

If you're looking at preschool, they are mostly (all?) private so you'll be paying anyway. There is a huge difference between prices though. Some more religious based ones can be quite reasonable, some are ridiculously expensive. Some offer term which matches the school year, others offer school year round (with time off for holidays etc) which suits working parents.

We've definitely found that the schools here seem to pressure kids less/later. My daughter (who just turned 6 in Jan and is currently in kindergarten in a private school) is definitely behind where both my husband and I were at her age in terms of reading and writing. WE're not stressed though as we're unlikely to be transferring to the UK school system.

Mummy in the foothills

It depends on your school district.
Ours now has Sept 1st as the cut off date and all the districts are supposed to be moving towards that as a cut off date to turn 5 to start Kindergarten. Kindergarten is more like year 1 in UK, My Dd is now 8 and in grade 2 Her UK friend is same age in year 3 and they are doing the same kind of work and have pretty much the same reading and writing level.
If your son in 5 next Jan then he would go into preschool where they do prep for Kindergarten, my Dd went to the one attached to her school and they charge by the day, it's only till noon opens at about 7.30 same as the elementary school. but starts for the day at 8am. Our was $20 a day till noon or if you work they did care till 6pm and a full day cost $25.
We only did two days a week, Dd was happy with that and we did other things on other days and did a lot of teaching at home, she could already read before starting Kindergarten.

penguinsix

It can get a bit complicated. Many educators refer to kindergarten as either 'K4' or 'K5' (if, and a big if, they even offer K4) but K-4 can also mean an 'elementary school' which is kindergarten through fourth grade, before heading to a "middle school" which is fifth so it does get quite confusing. 'Transitional' I gather is San Jose's name for it, so when the OP gets to their final town perhaps they should ask for it by the local terms there instead of 'K4'.

Thanks for the update.

notonuksoil

My eldest had just completed reception in the UK when we first moved to NY in July 2003. She was 5 yrs old and would be 6 the following April.
We contacted the local elementary school prior to moving here and were told she would have to have an assessment to check she was ready for kindergarten. When we arrived she went for the assessment which consisted of her having to count to 20, identify colours and shapes and to recite the alphabet. We were then told she was ready for kindergarten! The fact that she could read and write and knew how to add and subtract numbers up to 20 and knew her 2,3,5 & 10 times tables was not even taken into consideration until after the test when I spoke with the teacher testing her. I also took in her workbooks from her school in the UK and her end of year report from her teacher.
Later that day I got a call from the schools principle to come in and see her the following day with my daughter. The principle spoke to my daughter, got her to read a book and then said she would be VERY bored in kindergarten. She contacted the schools district office and jointly made the decision to move my daughter up to first grade.

She thrived and did very well although the youngest in her year group and completed 1st and 2nd grade in NY. We moved back to the UK where she did year 3 and year 4 in the same school she attended for reception and was slightly behind her class when she returned in year 3 but caught up quickly.

In year 5 we moved back to NY (the same school district) again she had to get an assessment and again she was ahead of her year group so they were happy for her to go into 5th grade although she should have gone into 4th based on her age.

My advice would be talk to the school and get an idea of what the curriculum for the grade they are entering looks like. Take examples of your childrens school work and reports with you. Also consider if your children are mature and confident enough to deal with being in a grade with kids a year or so older than them.

In my experience here on the east coast up until around 6th grade the UK system seems to be ahead of the US but in 7th and 8th grade the US catches up. My daughter is now in 10th grade and is 14 yrs old and some of her friends have already got their drivers licences and are 16.

Good luck!

Nimco

Thanks guys this is all really helpful. Does anyone know if you can register your kids at school before your work visa starts? Ie could you enter on Vwp with kids onholiday and start school? I guess we would then need to exit and renter as a a family after the visa starts? Would be good to avoid them having to start half way thru term if possible.

Clare8781

Hi!

We just moved to the Bay Area in November. My son is 5, nearly 6, and he was joining mid-way through the year having already done reception & a couple of months of year 1. I tried really hard to get him registered before we moved but unfortunately it was not possible in our school district (San Jose Unified) although we already had our address etc. He ended up starting around two weeks after we got here, by all accounts quickly. You may be able to speed it up by getting all of the vaccinations which are needed for school done in the UK, but the school district will still want to see a negative TB test performed by a US physician, which takes 72 hours, before your children can be enrolled.

Hope that's helpful!

N1cky

No, you have to provide proof of your address to the school distict, this will be either your rental agreement or your property tax bill. Along with a vehicle registration or currnet bank statement showing the address