Michael

As you can see from the following map of schools in the Fremont school district, there are only about a half dozen schools with a 10 ranking and they are mostly in the area where I lived. Although those schools are for residents of that area, the children will be assigned to other schools in the district if those schools are full.

http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...43185%2C12%2C1

slummymummy

I believe you and I've heard it's like that in NYC too. But around here it's definitely not like that. I would have heard about it from the other preschool moms gossiping! Anyway my daughter will hopefully be in the gifted program as she can already read books and has always been a quick learner, we are having her tested in a few weeks, that's why we haven't registered yet.

Michael

It will depend on your school district. In the bay area, all schools in the Palo Alto and Cupertino school districts are ranked at 10 so it doesn't make much of a difference (except the distance to the school) whether your child is assigned to the school that is attached to your address or to another school. However in the Fremont school district, not all schools are ranked at 10 and some are ranked as low as 5.

When a school is full, they can't assign more children to that school and people with children flock to that area of Fremont if they can afford housing in that area.

GeoffM

Yes, I was reading that other thread, but it still doesn't explain why it's a problem to indicate your visa status. Just curious, that's all.

Is that even possible, ie registering before moving in? Here - okay, so a sample of one - they ask for proof of residency which includes a utility bill in the name of at least one of the parents and the mortgage/closing statement or rental agreement (there are a couple of other options but they're the ones I can remember).

slummymummy

No problem Geoff... I'm just like that, I don't want to be asked about my immigration status if they're not supposed to! Maybe because I feel bad for any undocumented kids who might be stopped from going to school if they did ask.

Michael

No, that is why the buyer of my home bought in March and didn't rent it out even though he wasn't going to move in until August when he rented out his other home in the same district. He immediately put utility bills and mortgage in his name and had the title in his name allowing him to register his children in schools attached to that address. Just because they hadn't physically moved yet did not disqualify him from using that address.

Some people have grandparents that live in that area and sometimes they beat the system claiming that the child lives with the grandparents but in reality the parent takes the child to school daily from his/her home. That area of Fremont is extremely strict about checking residency in the area. In cases like this, they may possibly make surprise visits to make sure the child is living with the grandparents.

scrubbedexpat099

I do not see the issue in providing free schooling for residents and also checking their eligibility.

There is amazing hypocracy in this area, the Dems here made a big issue about not needing to provide ID to vote, but you needed ID to attend their events....

kodokan

This must vary by school district/ state. My kids are at a 10/10, A+, Excelling, etc school, and were given places mid-year, on the spot, as soon as I produced a lease with our address showing we were in boundary. It was the first thing the school wanted to know - 'what's your address, are you in our boundary?' - because until we proved we were in catchment, they didn't want to waste time schmoozing us and doing the tour as the school is at capacity and we would otherwise have been regretfully turned away. But once we proved we lived there, all was rainbows and flowers, and we were made most welcome.

It's the highest rated elementary in our district, and has a fair number of out of boundary kids attending through parental choice. Each year, these parents have to complete an out-of-boundary application form, so I imagine that if the numbers for a particular grade suddenly went up with local kids, the outsiders would be the ones bumped, not the ones residing in the 'right' addresses.

I'd already checked the policy, and then just worked the system by renting in exactly the right square mile block to enable us to waltz in with our new kids, and get them straight into classrooms.

slummymummy

Rainbows and flowers haha, sounds brilliant!

Similar here except you can not go to a school if you don't live in the catchment area, apart from if you qualify for the gifted program. (However, the gifted school is our local school anyway so will still be the same school for us whether she qualifies or not.)

Mummy in the foothills

I was never asked about our status in the US with any of my three starting Kindergarten, I didn't even put Social security numbers down as I forgot to bring them, and no one gave a hoot.
Registration is already in full swing in our district, you should apply asap, you can always turn down the place if you decide to go elsewhere.
Dd was already reading when she entered K, she was reading at the end of first grade level when they tested her a month into school, but socially she still needed to be with her own age group and hasn't been moved. She was in a combo 1/2grade class for half a year last year and this year they have no combo classes so it's a straight 2nd grade.
We're moving back to UK this year, and so far she is up to par with reading and writing with her UK friend who goes to a small school, hopefully she'll slot right in.

slummymummy

That's great that she's keeping up with the UK!

I can't believe no one here has been talking about registration, normally that's the sort of thing the other moms at preschool would talk about. I just found out today that the open house is 1st May. My daughter's "gifted" testing is early April and I didn't want to register her before but I suppose I still could as it will be the same school either way! Maybe I will.

SarahG

I think we showed visas/passports when I registered my kids at school in Indiana but I don't think I did here in SC. It was only a year ago so you'd think I'd remember!

lisa67

I've never been asked about immigration status for either of my kids and they've both been through from K-12 and we've changed school district a couple of times.

Giantaxe

Worse that that, the inevitable result of checking immigration status (not that school districts are qualified to do this anyway) is that you'll get parents withholding their kids from school if they think there's the slightest thing questionable about their status.

Anyway, it looks like it's illegal:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-...ration-status/

scrubbedexpat099

Why is that an issue?