Frequently Asked Questions

Registration is the first step in enrolling your child or the intent to attend. Your child is enrolled in a school once all required steps have been completed, including filling out the online student packet that is emailed to all parents in the spring.

If you need to enroll your child for the current school year, we invite you to please visit the District Office, 750 Bradford St., Redwood City, to register in person. 

Please bring:

• Student’s birth certificate
• Student’s immunization record
• Parent or guardian picture ID
• Proof of address (two different documents are needed)

Note: Students who register over or after the summer break 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. 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. 

If you want your child to attend a program at another school, please fill out the School of Choice online application after completing your registration form.

You may register your child using our online registration form or you may visit the district office to register in person. Please check our website's Registration Timeline page for registration dates and deadline information.

If you are a new parent looking to learn more about RCSD and it's award-winining programs and schools, we invite you to be on the lookout for details about Meet RCSD Night, which is an annual event organized especially for new families where they'll learn more about why families choose and love Redwood City School District.

Yes, students are enrolled in their assigned neighborhood schools in the order in which their registration is submitted to the online registration system.

If classes are already filled at the time a student registers, students will be assigned to another school in the district and will be placed on a waiting list for their neighborhood school. They will be admitted to the neighborhood school in the order in which they registered as spaces become available. 

RCSD offers Transitional Kindergarten for students who turn 5 between September 2 and December 2 at five schools including two in the district's language immersion programs:

• Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School - Language Immersion in Spanish
• Hoover Community School
• Mandarin Immersion - Language Immersion in Mandarin
• Orion Alternative Elementary School
• Taft Community School

Registration for Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is the same as for Kindergarten.

If you are ready to register your child, you can so either online or you can visit the District Office, which is located at 750 Bradford St. in Redwood City. 

Please remember that all students must have the following information to register:

* Student’s birth certificate

* Student’s immunization record

* Parent or guardian picture ID

* Proof of address (two different documents are needed)

If students are currently attending PreK at Adelante Spanish Immersion School or PreK at Mandarin Immersion at the John Gill Campus, the family needs to make sure that they specify that in the registration form if they want to continue with TK on the same campus.

Families may state a site preference during the registration process. Students will be assigned based on space available at their preferred site and in order of registration.

If students are currently attending PreK at Adelante Spanish Immersion School or PreK at Mandarin Immersion and they would like to continue with TK at their current site for the language immersion program, the the family needs to make sure that they specify that in the registration form if they want to continue with TK on the same campus.

No. TK is offered free of charge to students who turn 5 between September 2 and February 2.

Once all registrations are in, the District will then assess the number of spaces available, and will open additional classrooms or create a waitlist of students in order of receipt of registration.

TK is a half-day program and each school site offering a TK classroom has different start and dismissal times. Please check with your assigned TK school for the correct hours.

Yes. If students are currently attending PreK at Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School or PreK at Mandarin Immersion at Orion Alternative Elementary School and they would like to continue with TK at their current site for the language immersion program, this student has priority in the registration process. The family needs to make sure that they specify that in the registration form if they want to continue with TK on the same campus.

No. Students will attend Kindergarten at their assigned neighborhood school or school of choice during the following school year unless if they prefer to stay at their current TK site.

Families who decide to stay at their current TK site, regardless of their assigned neighborhood school, need to specify that in their registration form when they register for kindergarten. 

Yes. If families would like to stay at the school where they attended TK, they will have the option to do so. 

Families need to specify that in their registration application.

A neighborhood school is the school that is assigned to a student’s residential address.  The boundaries for a neighborhood school are determined by the Board of Education.

Go to the School Locator, or call the district office at 650-482-2200.

No. Several schools and programs:
 

• Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School,
• Mandarin Immersion at the John Gill Campus
• McKinley Institute of Technology,
• North Star Academy, and 
• Orion Alternative at the John Gill Campus

Are district-wide schools that students may only attend if they complete a School of Choice application. Parents must first register their child before applying for a School of Choice transfer. Please fill out the Registration Form first. You will then have the option to fill out a School of Choice transfer request.

*North Star Academy students must pass an entry exam and complete the required paperwork before being added to the school's lottery. Please go to North Star's website for more information about requirements, testing, and placement.

Yes. Students who live within the boundary of a neighborhood school get first priority for attending based on space available.

Students are guaranteed placement in their neighborhood school if space is available at the time they register. However, if their grade level is already full at the time of registration they will be assigned to another school in the district and will be placed on a waiting list for their neighborhood school. They will be admitted to the neighborhood school in the order in which they registered as spaces become available.

Redwood City School District offers a variety of school options. All students are assigned to a “neighborhood school” based on their home address. Students who wish to attend one of RCSD's many award-winning programs or another school within the district may apply to attend any school they choose by filling out a “School of Choice” Application.

Registration is the first step in enrolling in the Redwood City School District. All students must register into their neighborhood school. 

Students who want to attend a program or school other than their neighborhood school, must fill out a School of Choice application. Students who want to attend their assigned neighborhood school do NOT have to fill out a School of Choice application.

RCSD welcomes students whose parents work within the school district's attendance zone. 

Twins will be placed together, according to the School of Choice Priority Order of Placement. Twins who are assigned a random eligibility number will be placed according to the number of the twin with the most favorable place on the waiting list.

The district cannot guarantee that siblings at different grade levels will be placed at the same school. Each sibling application is considered separately.

Students must re-apply by filling out a new online School of Choice application if they want to move to a different school later. This does not apply to transferring back to the assigned neighborhood school.

Yes. In order to keep their student’s place on the waitlist, parents must submit a new School of Choice online application during the Open Application Period.  The waitlist place will carry over from year to year as long as a new application is resubmitted each year. If a parent does not submit a new online School of Choice application each year, the student will lose their spot on the waitlist.

No. When a student on the wait list is offered placement, the student needs to accept or decline. Students who accept their placement and attend their school of choice do not need to reapply. Students who do not accept placement will be removed from the wait list.

Students who applied during the lottery phase and are on a waitlist have the option of submitting a new application in the spring to a school with a shorter waitlist and they will be added to that waitlist in the order in which they apply. Students who submit a new application will be removed from the current waitlist.  Students cannot be on more than one waitlist at one time.

California law dictates that your child must be 5 years old on or before September 1.

Kindergartners who register at the start of the Kindergarten Registration period, are almost always able to attend their assigned neighborhood school, if they wish to do so. Please check our Registration Timeline page for important dates. 

Priority Kindergarten Registration is typically held during the fall/winter. (For example, in the last 10 years every kindergarten student who lives in the Roy Cloud boundary AND who registered at the start of the Kindergarten Registration period was able to attend Roy Cloud for kindergarten.) Students who register after or just before school begins, occasionally get assigned to another school until a spot opens up in their neighborhood school.

No. Students will attend Kindergarten at their assigned neighborhood school or school of choice during the following school year unless if they prefer to stay at their current TK site.

Families who decide to stay at their current TK site, regardless of their assigned neighborhood school, need to specify that in their registration form when they register for kindergarten.

Yes. If families would like to stay at the school where they attended TK, they will have the option to do so. 

Families need to specify that in their registration application. 

Language immersion is a method of instruction where the learner's target language is the language used in classroom instruction. It is one of the most effective and natural ways to learn a second language.

No. The Mandarin Immersion and Spanish Immersion Programs are school programs within the Redwood City School District. The Adelante and Selby Lane Spanish Immersion Program for grades Pre-K, TK and  K-5 is located on the Selby Lane campus and the Mandarin Immersion Program for Grades K-5  is located on the John Gill Campus; all 6-8 language immersion programs are at John F. Kennedy Middle School.

Yes. Every school in the district offers support to students who are learning English.

All students may apply for any program option of their choice, regardless of their home language. Please call the district Department of EL Services, 650-482-2222, or call the school, if you have questions about which program may be best for your student.

We provide special education and related services at each RCSD school and include program modifications and adaptations, general and special education collaboration, specialized teaching strategies and tutorial assistance. 

The enrollment criteria for special education students at the schools is the same as for the general student population.