Transferring from/to the Berkeley School District
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Dec 2012
i am seeking advice or comments regarding the petition process for attending a berkeley
elementary school. we have a berkeley address, but we pay oakland taxes. when we
moved to our house, i was told we could choose between berkeley and oakland schools. i
don't think this is the case and don't want to use another address that is not our own.
our closest neighborhood schools are berkeley schools. our community is in the
berkeley schools, we could walk instead of driving, and we have been longtime berkeley
residents (20 years) until moving to this house 2 years ago. i am hoping i might be
able to petition for our child to attend one of the berkeley kindergartens, and am
wondering if anyone has successfully done this, and would welcome any specific advice
or recommendations for increasing the likelihood that it might work. we would be
willing to start mid-year, to find out last-minute, etc.
anonomous
I asked a similar question a couple years ago. I live near the Claremont Hotel where many
homes have Oakland services but a Berkeley address. I have been very happy with our
assigned neighborhood Oakland school, Kaiser.
Kaiser has API scores higher than Berkeley elementaries and has achieved California
Distinguished School status. It is a manageable size and has a diverse student body, a
charming facility, accomodating before and after school care, enrichment opportunities and a
devoted parent base. Above all, it has dedicated teachers.
The OUSD has significant challenges with its large and ecomomically disparate population,
but this school works. It is where our taxes go.
Those planning on private elementary education should also consider this fantastic school.
FYI, BUSD assignments are through a lottery based on zones, not convenience to your Berkeley
address home.
Berkeley address, Oakland services
Aug 2009
We are in the process of looking for a small starter home to purchase, and although we
don't want to leave Berkeley, we can't afford to buy here. We're considering moving to
North Oakland (Temescal) where houses are more affordable, but are concerned b/c
our children go to a BUSD elementary school that we love. My husband does work in
Berkeley, so I've heard we can get an inter-district transfer. How successful are these?
Could our children stay in their BUSD elementary school if we move to Oakland, or is
there a chance they would be ''kicked out''? What are our chances of being allowed to
attend a BUSD middle school or Berkeley high in the future if we move to Oakland? I've
heard this is very possible, but would like to get more input from more people. We
love Berkeley and feel very much a part of the community here, but are tired of paying
rent when we could buy.
Bye Bye Berkeley
It is quite difficult to obtain an inter district permit. They
were once freely given, but because of pressure from Berkeley
residents and the class size limit requirement, they are
generally denied. You can always try.
Deborah
Most telling in your post is your closing: ''We love Berkeley
and feel very much a part of the community here, but are tired
of paying rent when we could buy.'' The reality is that your
higher expenses of living in Berkeley pay for that wonderful
school you have your kids in. By moving to Oakland and keeping
your kids in Berkeley schools, you are by-passing the funding
of the education of your kids and foisting it on those of us
who pay the property taxes that make Berkeley schools work
better than those in your ''new'' neighborhood. As a person who
would be paying high Berkeley property taxes for you to benefit
from something you will no longer be paying into, I think you
should suck it up and put your kids into your ''new'' city's
schools and help make them the equivalent to Berkeley schools.
-willingly struggling to keep Berkeley public schools so good
My advice? If you want to go to Berkeley schools and really feel
part of the Berkeley community... either buy here or continue to
pay rent to your landlord who is paying the property taxes that
make the schools what they are.
A Berkeley Parent and Taxpayer
We are trying to decide whether to stay in Berkeley or move
somewhere else. Part of that decision is whether our kid could
stay in the Berkeley public schools he attends. When I called
the school district, they said that our kid could continue to
attend his school if he weren't a problem student (basically).
In addition, our younger kids could also go to the school he is
going to. The woman also said that they could all continue to go
all the way through high school. She said that of all the stuff
she said, the last one was most likely to change.
This information is about a year old, and we didn't get it in
writing or anything, so you might want to call the school
district office and ask again.
You should think about making a donation to the school to help
pay for things that additional property taxes do.
Anon
Nov 2008
We are one block away from the Berkeley border, and would like to
spread our options out a little more,
and want to at least try for an inter-district transfer.
Did you try it?
Did it work?
Any chance whatsoever of getting into a dual immersion program?
We would be looking at Rosa Parks, Jefferson or Thousand Oaks, since those are the
closest to our home of the BUSD schools. They also seem to offer a lot of after-
school enrichment programs which Ocean View does not. And the school day is
longer by at least an hour or so. Any insight?
Your chances of getting into the dual immersion program are slim
to none if you are an inter-district transfer and your child is
not primarily Spanish speaking. Also, you would not have first
choice of schools and your child may be assigned to a school on
the other side of town. Also, your child's space in a Berkeley
school is not guaranteed from year to year (as I understand it -
check with Francisco at the BUSD placememnt office).
So, go for it if you want, but at your kid's age, having a great
elementary school that they can walk to with their friends may be
WAY more important than driving them everyday to a school across
town (even if it does provide a longer day). Also note that the
Albany elementary schools (I believe) have before and/or
afterschool care for kindergarteners.
Anon
Nov 2006
I would like to know about the public middle schools in
Berkeley, especially King Jr. School. We live in a different
school district but are thinking of transferring our 5th grade
son. I work in Berkeley, and maybe there is a chance of being
accepted (?). If anyone knows something, even just a little bit
about schools' curriculum, teachers, students, etc., I would
really appreciate if you can share it with me. Thank you.
one mom
If you send your out-of-district child to the Berkeley schools,
you should consider making a substantial donation to the PTA. One
reason the Berkeley schools are more ''desirable'' is that they are
better funded, because of many years of extra taxes, and serious
PTA fundraising. This is a separate pot of money than the money
that comes from the state for each student. Since it is a
property-tax, more students mean that the money needs to be
divided more ways. So, when out-of-district parents send their
children to the Berkeley schools, if they can, they should help
make up this difference. Of course, this would be different if
the whole East Bay were funding the Berkeley Schools.
King in Berkeley is considered to be a good middle school. Most
folks who have public school elementary kids in the King zone are
very glad to send their kids there. My friends who have or have
had their children at King like it very much. I hear the
principal is great I understand that the classes are strong,
that 6th grade starts earlier than other grades, that 6th grade
kids go from class to class together in a group, that the
food/garden class is amazing, that the math program is very good.
Some kids who were in dual immersion in elementary school opt to
send their kids to Longfellow Middle School as it has a dual
immersion emphasis for a portion of its classes. Folks whose
children go there say great things about it, too. I do not know
much about Willard. There may be a growing trend in the Berkeley
School District to take a closer look at transfers into the
district and into verifying addresses, especially as kids enter
Middle School and High School. It was a big item during this
fall's campaign. So if you want to try to transfer in to BUSD
above board, then go ahead and work with your home district and
BUSD to try it. I do not recommend trying to sneak a kid in
under a false address cuz, as I said above, things are likely to
get far more intense very soon with address checks. You may not
want to subject your child to that. However, if your child does
get in, please make sure you contribute a bunch of money to your
school and/or the district since you will not be paying the
higher Berkeley taxes. Thanks in advance for doing your share!
signed - Berkeley resident, tax payer, BUSD PTA contributer, and ''Yes
on A'' campaign contributer.
In response to the question about middle schools in Berkeley; I have
taught at two of them and know teachers at all three. In general, the
teaching staff at the middle level in Berkeley is exceptional in terms
of the level of professionalism, dedication and heart. But, it can be
hit or miss with classes because there is a significant percentage of
the student population that can be difficult and disruptive. If the
teacher is skilled at managing behavior, the class will run smoothly
and learning can take place. If the teacher struggles with this, and it
can be challenging depending on the mix of students in the class,
learning can still take place, but the student will have to work harder
at it (to ignore distractions and peer pressure to fit in.) After 10
years in the district, I am thinking of moving on because I am tired of
dealing with the negative behaviors and I would send my son to private
middle school rather than expose him to some of the more outrageous
behaviors that he will inevitably see in some of his classes in public
school, Berkeley included. That being said I know lots of students who
do well, go on to do well in high school and college. I guess I am just
biased because after all of these years, I find the negative behaviors
to be pretty discouraging and would rather have my own child surrounded
by polite and respectful peers. On the other hand, it is a slice of the
real world and I haven't really witnessed anything that would make me
feel that a child would be physically unsafe at either King or
Longfellow.
There is a misconception that King is the place to be. Check out the
other middle schools as well. In my opinion there is not an appreciable
difference between King and Longfellow. King MAY have a slightly more
cohesive teaching staff, but Longfellow has many dedicated teachers and
is smaller which, to me, gives it a more respectful feel amongst the
students and teachers really communicate across subject areas there. I
don't know as much about Williard but have met many great teachers
there. I think King, being in north Berkeley has acquired this great
reputation, but in my opinion this is based on either subtle racism or
"classism". I just don't see the difference between the schools. King
does have a fantastic cooking and garden program, thanks to Alice
Waters, but Longfellow has a nice program as well.
The curriculum in the Berkeley schools is great, from what I can see
and rivals that of any private school; it may even be better than at
some schools ( for example, I visited St. Paul's school and felt the
curriculum did not appear to be as dynamic as that in the Berkeley
middle schools). So, that is not the issue. For me it is ALL about the
social atmosphere, not the academics. And the social atmosphere is
mixed.
Hope this is helpful.
Oct 2004
I live in Berkeley but my son is enrolled in Albany preschool.
A friend told me that, b/c he's already in a preschool in
Albany, it would be possible to enroll him in Albany public
schools. I went to Oakland/Berkeley public schools myself,
and have mixed feelings about leaving Berkeley, but I've
heard great things about Albany public schools. Any
thoughts on this, or advice about what I'd need to do exactly
to get into Albany rather than Berkeley schools? He will
probably start kindergarten next year.
Thanks!
Katie
We transfered from Berkeley to Albany, and our daughter attended kindergarten in
Albany. From our experience, the Albany schools are mediocre, at best. The
Berkeley teachers seem much more inspired, have many more resources (the Albany
schools are broke and receive little government funding), and more academic. Our
daughter literally did not learn anything in kindergarten, and all of her Berkeley
friends seemed to learn a lot more in kindergarten. I was not impressed at all. Yes,
the Albany schools have high test scores, but this is NOT because of amazing
teaching. It is because Albany typically has more middle class students, which is
reflected in the test scores. Berkeley schools have a lot of parent involvement, more
activities (art, music, and so on), and more resources. Also, it is wonderful for
your
child to go to the same school as his neighbors. If we could do it over again, I
would. We did not send our second child to Albany schools, and transfered our
daughter out of Albany in second grade (happily). I know it is scary, but I would at
least try Berkeley for a year and see what you think. Also, Albany kindergarten is
only three hours, and the aftercare for kindergarten is $500/month. If you are a
working parent, this is something to consider.
give berkeley a try.
Before you spend too much time worrying about whether to send
your child to an Albany school, make sure you even have a choice.
Your friend was misinformed: it is no longer the case that a
child can get into an Albany elementary school just because he or
she was in Albany Preschool.
M.M.
I have called the Berkeley School District re the idea that if one
works in Berkeley, one can send one's children to the Berkeley public
schools. This is unfortunately not exactly true. There's something
called the "Allen Bill" that says people should be able to put their
children in school near where they work. However, Berkeley doesn't
fall under that since the district feels that any child from anywhere
should be able to attend the Berkeley Schools (whether their parents
work here or not). However, the catch is that you must get an
"interdistrict permit" (which I'm told is easy to get) and then APPLY
to the BUSD. For Kindergarden, and maybe some of the lower grades,
this would be IMPOSSIBLE since the classes are so full from class-size
reduction. (Smaller classes, but a shortage of teachers and
classrooms.) It has been several years since they accepted a single
out-of-district kindergardener.
Leah
July 2002
I would like some advice about the ease or dificulty of
transferring from one school district to another. My 4 year old
who will be attending elementary school in one year, but I would
actually like for her to attend school in Berkeley which is
closer to work for me. It would be so much easier for me to
take her to school and pick her up. Traffic is so bad along I-
80 in the afternoons, I doubt very much that I would make it int
time anywhere. I live in Hercules, and would be transferring
from the West Contra Cost School District. Does anyone have any
suggestions? Is this even possible? Any and all advice would
be greatly appreciated.
jeannette
To the mom asking for advice on transferring out of district. I
currently have my daughter transferred out of WCCUSD into
Oakland Unified for the same reason - work is closer and after
school care is easier. What you need to do first is contact the
Transfer Office in Richmond at (510) 620-2124 to get the
necessary forms sent to you. The folks at this number in my
experience have been very helpful. Be sure to explain that you
need to obtain the forms to be released out of district. For me
the realease out has been relatively easy and hassle-free, but
it is a little inconvenient to have to renew the request each
year. Be sure to contact Berkeley Unified and ask what you will
need outside of the transfer request (proof of employment, etc)
when you submit your forms. If you already know which school
you want to attend, talk to the principal about your plans and
see if s/he thinks you have a good chance to get in to that
particular school. My advice would be to check out at LEAST 3
schools and rank them so that you have some choices to fall back
on. Remember there is no guarantee that you will be allowedd in
to BUSD. WCCUSD may be very willing, but BUSD may not. Be
prepared. This is where your challenge may be.
A transfer mom of 2
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