SF: Best Schools in the City? Your Kid Can’t Go to Any of Them

Unusual in suburbia but not unheard of in a metropolis, San Francisco parents are not allowed to select the public school their children attend. Living next door to an elementary school has nothing to do with whether or not a family can expect to send its students there.  This is because in its mission to “provide each student with an equal opportunity to succeed,” the San Francisco Unified School District seeks to promote ethnic/racial diversity and socioeconomic equality. Thus students are bussed all over the city, placed in particular schools via the District’s lottery process.

Knowing this, parents also know that where they live in the city has no relationship with a getting their kids into a  ”good school” Instead, the process is a complicated and, for parents who can’t afford the alternative of private school, occasionally infuriating. It’s enough to send some familes I know to South San Francisco or Marin to buy a house, in hopes of landing in a good school district, close to home.

With summer ending (already!), many SF parents must be thinking about back-to-school. And those new to the city, or thinking about moving here, or whose children have just reached school age, will appreciate knowing more about how the lottery works.

For instance, you and you alone must do the research as to which schools have the best qualities for your child. Some schools emphasize the arts, others technology, others community service. All have different testing results, if those are something you use to guage a school’s efficacy. From the many schools in the SFUSD, you can select up to seven you would like your child to attend. Unfortunately, you aren’t guaranteed placement in one of these seven.

Here’s more info, culled from the SFUSD site.

1. There is no advantage to applying early. Just be on time.  ”All applications turned in by January 11, 2008 will be considered on-time applications [and] have a greater chance of receiving an offer to a school of their choice.”

2.  You sould list seven choices: do the research required to find those seven, rather than picking two and crossing your fingers. “Families have a better chance of receiving a requested school assignment if they list multiple school choices on their enrollment application” because parents “who do not list up to 7 choices run a higher risk of getting assigned to a school they did not request” since the SFUSD assigns students at random if none of your choices has an open space.

3. If you have two kids and want them in school together, take heart. “Younger siblings can receive a priority to a school that his/her older sibling is currently attending and will attend in the 2008-09 school year if their parent/ guardian turns in the enrollment application by January 11, 2008 and lists the older sibling’s school as a first choice.”

4. Some schools require additional legwork- or at least paperwork.  The School of the Arts (“SOTA”) and Lowell High School “have additional application requirements” and are not guaranteed to have openings even if you meet those requirements. 

5. If  you are interested in having your child attend a charter school, you “should contact the charter school(s) directly for information regarding their application procedures. Charter school applications are handled through a different process than the general enrollment process for SFUSD’s other schools.”

6. If your child does not get assigned to any of the schools listed on the enrollment application, your child will be “assigned to a non-requested school, taking into account your home address and any language programs or other special needs your child may have.”

Further, “if you applied on-time and are unhappy with your school of assignment, you have several options”- these are listed in depressing detail here and here.

All in all, being a parent is a major challenge in the city. As I go back to school myself to teach your kids, I will be thinking of you.

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Graphic: SatNexSchool