Because placement into a specific program or school is determined based on seat availability, applying during the priority window increases the possibility that a student will be placed in the program or school of their choice. The later the family applies, the less likely seats will be available.

In addition, students who register during the spring and summer, which is considered late registration, are only temporarily enrolled in their neighborhood school for the first 10 days of the school year and may be moved if it is determined that there are not enough seats available.

While students can enroll at any time during the school year, applying during the priority window with all required documents submitted and approved, is highly encouraged as it increases the probability for placement.

RCSD is a stellar PreK-8 school district known for its very unique and popular award-winning programs. Families are invited to engage in the enrollment process by:

1. Attending school tours and information sessions offered by RCSD schools to learn more about the family’s school or program of interest, meet teachers, parents, and administrators

2. Talking to current parents whose children are attending the program in which the new family is interested

3. Fill out an enrollment application for the assigned neighborhood school

RCSD Transitional Kindergarten (TK) programs welcome TK families to tours and/or information sessions to learn more about the school or program of interest.

Children born between September 2, 2020 and September 1, 2021 will be enrolled in TK.

Families are invited to check the program’s or school’s website in which they are interested as different programs schedule specific dates and times for tours and/or information sessions:

Please Note: Tours for Kindergarten families open on Friday, November 15.

Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School

Clifford School

Garfield School

Henry Ford School

Hoover School

Orion Alternative School (both the Mandarin Immersion Program and the Parent Co-Op Program)

Roosevelt School

Roy Cloud School

Taft School

All RCSD school principals welcome Kindergarten families to tours and/or information sessions to learn more about the school or program of interest.

Children born between September 2, 2019 and September 1, 2020 will be enrolled in Kindergarten. 

Families are invited to check the program’s or school’s website in which they are interested as different programs schedule specific dates and times for tours and/or information sessions:

Please Note: While the tours starting on November 15 are open to families of all grade levels, families should note that these tours are tailored for kindergarten families.

Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School

Clifford School

Garfield School

Henry Ford School

Hoover School

Orion Alternative School (both the Mandarin Immersion Program and the Parent Co-Op Program)

Roosevelt School

Roy Cloud School

Taft School

Incoming families for TK-8 grade levels can enroll their students in their neighborhood school.

Incoming families and current RCSD families looking to transfer to another program or school other than their neighborhood school may do so starting at this time by filling out a School of Choice application.

North Star Academy (NSA), the Redwood City School District’s (RCSD) 3-8 grade school that houses the District’s Compacted Curriculum specialized program, welcomes applicants for the 2025-26 school year, which starts with the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®). The CogAT is the assessment RCSD uses in the NSA admissions process.

RCSD welcomes families of 2nd graders who don’t attend RCSD schools, but live within the RCSD attendance zone, as well as all 3rd-7th graders (including RCSD 3rd-7th graders), to sign up to take the CogAT assessment. The CogAT for these two groups of students will take place at North Star Academy on the following dates and times:

• Thursday, December 5, 3:00 pm
• Saturday, December 7, 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 1:00 pm, or 3:00 pm

Families who plan to have their student participate in testing on any of these dates for non-RCSD 2nd graders and all 3rd-7th graders need to sign up prior to the assessment day.

Current RCSD 2nd grade students will participate in the CogAT assessment at their current RCSD school during the school day. RCSD schools will administer the CogAT assessment to RCSD 2nd graders on the following dates:

Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School: Friday, December 6
Clifford School: Thursday, December 5
Garfield School: Tuesday, December 3
Henry Ford School: Tuesday, December 3
Hoover School: Monday, December 2
Orion Alternative School: Monday, December 2
Roosevelt School: Wednesday, December 4
Roy Cloud School: Thursday, December 5
Taft School: Friday, December 6

Current RCSD 2nd-grade students do not need to register for the assessment as testing will take place at their current school during their school day.

Families interested in their students attending North Star Academy who signed up for the CogAT assessment between November 18 and November 22, will be participating in this assessment.

Assessment results will be mailed to parents during winter break starting on Friday, December 20. 

North Star Academy begins to mail out CogAT assessment results to families of all students who participated in the assessment program. 

Please note: These assessment results are mailed out using regular U.S. postal mail service.

Application to North Star Academy opens. Using the CogAT assessment results, families will determine if they would like to apply for the 2025-26 school year. Only students who have already participated in the CogAT assessment in December of 2024 will be able to apply for the 2025-26 school year.

Applications close for families of students interested in North Star Academy for the 2025-26 school year. All North Star Academy applicants will be entered in a random computerized lottery.

Families who applied to North Star Academy will be notified starting Friday, March 7.

The Priority Window for all new enrollment, including the School of Choice application for all programs, closes. All School of Choice applications are entered into a random computerized lottery.

RCSD begins the 1st Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s School of Choice application and random lottery results for students whose families submitted their complete applications with all required and valid documents prior to the priority window closing. The district also will notify families if they are placed on a waitlist.

The families who will be notified during this 1st Round are families who applied for the following grade level and program:

TK Notifications: Incoming TK students at the specialized programs--Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School as well as both the Mandarin Immersion and Parent Co-Op programs at Orion Alternative School. 

Kinder Notifications: Incoming Kinder students at the specialized programs--Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School as well as both the Mandarin Immersion and Parent Co-Op programs at Orion Alternative School.

Deadline for families in the 1st Round to accept their school placement based on their School of Choice application and the lottery results. Families who do not notify the District by this date will be removed from the list and the seat will be offered to the next family on the waitlist.

RCSD begins the 2nd Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s enrollment into their assigned neighborhood school or school of choice application and random lottery results for students whose families submitted their complete applications with all required and valid documents prior to the priority window closing. The district will also notify families who are placed on a waitlist. 

The families who will be notified during this 2nd Round are families who applied for the following grade level and program:

TK Notifications: Incoming TK students at assigned neighborhood schools--Clifford, Garfield, Henry Ford, Hoover, Roosevelt, Roy Cloud, and Taft.

Deadline for families in the 2nd Round to accept their school placement based on their School of Choice application and the lottery results. Families who do not notify the District by this date will be removed from the list and the seat will be offered to the next family on the waitlist.

RCSD begins the 3rd Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s School of Choice application and random lottery results. The district also will notify families if they are placed on a waitlist.

The families who will be notified during this 3rd Round are families who applied for the following grade level and program:

3rd Grade Notifications: Incoming 3rd grade students at North Star Academy

Deadline for families in the 3rd Round to accept their school placement based on their School of Choice application and the lottery results. Families who do not notify the District by this date will be removed from the list and the seat will be offered to the next family on the waitlist.

RCSD begins the 4th Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s enrollment into their assigned neighborhood school or school of choice application and random lottery results for students whose families submitted their complete applications with all required and valid documents prior to the priority window closing. The district will also notify families who are placed on a waitlist. 

The families who will be notified during this 4th Round are families who applied for the following grade level and program:

Kinder Notifications: Incoming Kindergarten students at assigned neighborhood schools--Clifford, Garfield, Henry Ford, Hoover, Roosevelt, Roy Cloud, and Taft.

Deadline for families in the 4th Round to accept their school placement based on their School of Choice application and the lottery results. Families who do not notify the District by this date will be removed from the list and the seat will be offered to the next family on the waitlist.

RCSD begins the 5th Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s School of Choice application and random lottery results. The district also will notify families if they are placed on a waitlist.

The families who will be notified during this 5th Round are families who applied for the following grade level and program:

Middle School Notifications: Incoming 6th-8th graders at McKinley Institute of Technology. 

Middle School Notifications: Incoming School of Choice transfers to Kennedy Middle School for students who have previously attended the RCSD Mandarin or Spanish language immersion programs.

Deadline for families in the 5th Round to accept their school placement based on their School of Choice application and the lottery results. Families who do not notify the District by this date will be removed from the list and the seat will be offered to the next family on the waitlist.

RCSD begins the 6th Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s enrollment into their assigned neighborhood school or school of choice application and random lottery results for students whose families submitted their applications prior to the priority window closing. The district will also notify families who are placed on a waitlist. 

The families who will be notified during this 6th Round are families who applied for the following grade level and program:

School of Choice transfers for 1st-8th Grades: All schools with the exception of McKinley Institute of Technology (MIT) and North Star Academy. 

Please Note: Transfers in the upper grades within the district are typically limited due to the fixed seats available as students rollover at their schools from one grade level to the next. In addition, new students continue to enroll at their assigned neighborhood schools. Families looking to transfer who do not receive a placement offer should start planning on attending their current school.

Deadline for School of Choice applicant families in the 6th Round to accept their school placement based on their School of Choice application and the lottery results. Families who do not notify the District by this date will be removed from the list and the seat will be offered to the next family on the waitlist.

RCSD begins the 6th Round of notifications. This notification is for program or school placement based on the family’s enrollment into their assigned neighborhood for students whose families submitted their applications after the priority window closing on January 17. 

The families who will be notified during this 6th Round are families of following grade level and program:

All Incoming TK-8 graders whose families submitted their applications after the January 17 priority window.

RCSD begins to notify families on an ongoing basis pending seat availability. 

The district will notify families of program or school placement based on the family’s completed and finalized enrollment application. 

Please Note: 

Spring and summer enrollment prior to the new school year is considered late. 

Students who register during the spring and summer are only temporarily enrolled in their neighborhood school for the first 10 days of the school year, and may be moved if the principal and superintendent determine there are not enough seats available at your child’s grade level.

Neighborhood students have priority based on space available at the time they register. If space is not available at the neighborhood school, students will be placed at a different school until space becomes available at their neighborhood school. Students are enrolled in the order in which they register.

The School of Choice process for the second application window for the 2025-26 school year opens for submission.

Please Note: The random lottery only takes place during the first application window of every school year. Families looking to transfer during the second application window in the spring of every school year are placed in the program, school, or a waitlist based on the order that the application is received. In addition, North Star Academy is not available as an option during the spring. North Star’s process only takes place once a year during the winter.

Because placement into a specific program or school is determined based on seat availability, applying during the second window is based on seat availability. Families are notified of their placement on a case by case basis as each student is placed based on the order that their application was received. Families looking to transfer who do not receive a placement offer will remain on a waitlist and should plan on attending their current school. 

In addition, students who register during the spring and summer, which is considered late registration, are only temporarily enrolled in their neighborhood school for the first 10 days of the school year, and may be moved if it is determined that there are not enough seats available.

RCSD begins to notify families who applied for a transfer through the School of Choice spring window. The district will notify families of program or school placement based on the family’s completed School of Choice form and if a seat becomes available. 

Please Note: 

Spring and summer applications prior to the new school year is considered late. Neighborhood students have priority based on seat availability at the time they register. 

Placement into a specific program or school is determined based on seat availability as most seats are filled during the priority window in the winter (Nov-Jan). Families are notified of their placement on a case by case basis as each student is placed based on the order that their application was received. Families looking to transfer who do not receive a placement offer should plan on attending their current school. 

The second window for the School of Choice application process closes in its entirety for the 2025-26 school year.