susanleigh

Hello. I'm American and my husband is British. We are planning to move to the U.S. in about a year or so with our twins, who will be 6 years old. We have narrowed down the city and neighborhood we want to live in but my concern is this: how can we ensure a place at the neighborhood school (we are choosing this neighborhood because we want the girls to go to this particular school) if we haven't yet moved at the time of application? Will they have to accept our children as long as we are living in the designated area when the school year starts? Any advice or information would be much appreciated.

Sue

Hi Susan,

Welcome to BE, I hope you enjoy being part of our community, we have lots of people like yourself who are returning to the US with British spouses so you will pick up lots of tips here and maybe make a few new friends along the way.

Where I live in North Carolina as long as you live in the specific school zone then your child is automatically accepted into that school. However I am not sure if its the same across the whole country. The best bet would be for you to post in the USA forum and I'm sure our other members will be happy to share any info they know on this subject.

Bob

Welcome to BE and good luck!

As for the school, well you find a place to live in the school catchment area and then you're in, so double check the address of the place you're thinking to move to.

Also have you gotten your UK citizenship yet? Might well be worth doing if you haven't, considering the changes to UK immigration rules making it very difficult to move back

MostlyYank

Every place I've ever lived, they have to take your kids in public school. I'd be shocked if it was otherwise.

Welcome back

Pete

Pombat

Where we live in CA, the school district in which you live is obliged to offer you a place. However, it may not be at the nearest school if that school is already full. You need to look at all the schools in the district and make sure you'd be comfortable with any of them, not just the closest one. Our local district is impacted, so there are no spots available at several of the schools. When we moved here we couldn't apply for a school place without proof of actual residency (mortgage or lease docs showing name and address and a utility bill also showing those details). Good luck with your plans!

susanleigh

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies!