Registration for fall 2008 kindergarten in the Menlo Park City School District begins February 1, 2008.  Children who will be age 5 by December 2, 2008 are eligible for kindergarten registration.  A birth certificate or other legal proof of age must be presented at the time of registration along with family proof of residence in the District (a deed, lease agreement, rental agreement, and P.G.& E. bill).  In addition, proof of immunizations received (DPT, Polio, Hepatitis B, MMR and Varicella or a Doctor’s statement that the child has had chickenpox) is required at registration.

New Attendance Boundaries

To plan for the future and deal with increasing enrollment, effective fall 2008, the Menlo Park City School District has implemented new attendance boundaries for its three Elementary Schools, Laurel School, Encinal School and Oak Knoll School.  Please review the following information carefully and the attached District map to determine school assignments.

Laurel School (Kindergarten through 2nd Grade): 

95 Edge Road, Atherton    650 324-0186 
Capacity:  100 Kindergarten Students
Principal:  Nancy Hendry

(Attendance Boundaries include residences in Flood Triangle, Willows, Menlo Oaks, Vintage Oaks, the portion of Lindenwood for residences accessed from Oak Grove and Ringwood and residences in southern part of Greenoaks Drive (see map), and all other areas south of Ringwood and east of Middlefield.)

Encinal School (Kindergarten, 3rd through 5th Grade): *

195 Encinal Avenue, Atherton    650 326-5164
Capacity:  80 Kindergarten Students (includes 20 in the Spanish Immersion Program)
Principal:  Allison Liner

(Attendance Boundaries include residences in Suburban Park and adjacent neighborhoods to the north, the portion of Lindenwood north of and including Linden, Catalpa and Acorn and northern part of Greenoaks Drive (see map), Atherton north of Marsh and east of the El Comino Real, Atherton east of Elena (not including residences on Elena) and west of the El Camino Real, all Atherton and Menlo Park areas between Middlefield Road and El Camino, and areas within Valparaiso, University and Middle Avenues with exception of Kenwood Morey Subdivision).

* The District’s Reconfiguration Plan calls for the conversion of the Encinal campus to a K – 5 school by 2010.  The first kindergarten class will begin in the fall of 2008, and the first and second grades will be added the following two years.

Oak Knoll School (Kindergarten through 5th Grade): 

1895 Oak Knoll Lane, Menlo Park    650 854-4433
Principal:  David Ackerman
Capacity:  120 Kindergarten Students

(Attendance Boundaries include residences in Atherton and Menlo Park west of Elena (including all residences on Elena) and north of Valparaiso, all areas south of Valparaiso and west of University to Middle Avenue, and all areas south of Middle Avenue west of the El Camino)

Grandfathering Provisions for Oak Knoll’s New Attendance Boundaries

To minimize disruption to current Oak Knoll School families residing in the new Encinal School attendance boundaries, the Board of Education has directed that current Oak Knoll students and their incoming kindergarten siblings will be allowed to attend Oak Knoll School. (All other students residing in the new Encinal attendance boundaries, who are new to the District or without older siblings concurrently enrolled at Oak Knoll, will be assigned to Encinal School.)  Grandfathered families should register their incoming kindergarten children directly at Oak Knoll.

Kindergarten Spanish Immersion Program: 

A new Spanish Immersion Kindergarten Class will be offered at Encinal School in the fall of 2008.  Enrollment in the class is open to 20 incoming kindergarten students throughout the district on a sign-up basis.  Interested families should review the attached Spanish Immersion Informational Flyer, which describes the new program and the registration and selection processes. Families who are interested in registering their incoming kindergarteners in Spanish Immersion must submit their application to the school within their assigned attendance boundary. (Students not enrolled in Immersion will receive Spanish instruction in grades 3-5 in 2008 and in all elementary grades in 2009.)

Registration Process

All incoming Kindergarten children must register at the school assigned to their attendance boundary.  Applications for the Spanish Immersion Program or requests for intradistrict transfers to another school within the District will be considered thereafter.

Parents who register their Kindergarten students within the District Priority Registration Period between February 1 and February 29 will have priority for enrollment in the school in their attendance boundary; if applied for, will receive consideration for the Spanish Immersion Program to be offered at Encinal School; and, if applied for, will receive consideration for an intradistrict transfer to a school outside of their attendance boundary.  Registration materials received after February 29th will be reviewed and accepted in the order received.

(If registration of students during the Priority Registration Period exceeds the capacity of any of the District schools, a lottery will be conducted of those students who reside within the school’s attendance boundary and do not have siblings who attend the school.  Any student displaced from his/her “home school” will have priority for enrollment in the home school when space is available.

Enrollment for Kindergarten Spanish Immersion Class or Request for Intradistrict Transfer

Spanish Immersion Class

Families should submit application forms for the District’s Kindergarten Spanish Immersion Class (housed at Encinal School) with their registration materials to the school in their attendance boundary.  Forms are available at each school.  Eligibility and participation in the program will be determined using a lottery that will be conducted in March 2008. Parents, whose children are selected for Immersion, formally enroll and thereafter decline the enrollment, will forfeit priority for enrollment in the “home school.”

Intradistrict Transfers

Families may submit request forms for an intradistrict transfer to another elementary school within the District (but outside an assigned attendance boundary) with their registration materials to the school in their attendance boundary.  Forms are available at each school.  Approvals of intradistrict transfer requests will be made based upon space availability and are for a one-year duration only.  Subsequent requests must be submitted and approved annually thereafter. Current Board Policy asserts that “intradistrict transfers will be granted on a random, unbiased basis” and “requests based upon child care needs and requests where siblings already attend the school will be given priority.”

Kindergarten Orientation Sessions

Orientation sessions for parents whose children will be beginning kindergarten in the fall will be held at all three elementary schools, Laurel, Encinal and Oak Knoll.  Information about the school’s orientation sessions will be available at each of the schools.