The school your child attends is determined by where you
live. If you live in the city of San Diego you should call the San
Diego Unified School District. See Contacts/Links for
information. To find the name of the public schools serving your area
if you live outside the city of San Diego contact the San Diego County Office of
Education. See Contacts/Links for
information.
Enrollment
To enroll your child, you must go to the front
office of the elementary or secondary school serving the area in which you
live. You must present the following documentation for your child to
the school official: 1) proof of age, 2) proof of residency and 3) immunization
records.
At registration, parents are required to show proof of
immunization for polio, diphtheria, hepatitis B, pertussis (whooping cough),
measles, mumps, rubella and tetanus. If the child is seven or older,
it's not necessary to show proof of immunization for mumps and whooping
chough. Check with your particular school district to make certain
your child is properly immunized.
Calendar Year
Calendar years for
most schools, including all high schools, vary, but most start in early
September and end about the middle of June. There are 176 schools
operating on year-round schedules. These schools also begin their
year in September, but stagger the 180 days of instruction over the entire year,
rather than nine months. Most students receive a minimum of three
vacation periods during the year.
Transportation
Each
district determines what levels of bus transportation it provides to students in
its boundaries. Students and their families are responsible for
transportation if attending a school other than their assigned
school.
Special Needs
The California Education Code is compliant with
the federal code that provides for the "least restrictive environment' for any
children with special needs. The goal is always to keep students with
special needs in regular classrooms. When appropriate, students may
need to supplement their studies with the assistance of a resource specialist,
speech pathologist or speech therapist that can work in or outside the classroom
with them. Children with severe learning disabilities may be placed
in separate classrooms that can better accommodate their individual learning
needs. Each school district in San Diego County has a school
psychologist who conducts individual assessment of students to determine
eligibility for a special needs program. That psychologist works in
conjunction with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team that is composed
of both education professionals, and parents to develop a custom plan, which is
regularly reviewed and updated. Testing is conducted every three
years.
School Accountability Report Card (SARC)
California state law
requires every public school and school district to issue an annual School
Accountability Report Card (SARC).
SARCs should include:
1.
Demographic information
2. School safety and climate for learning
3.
Academic data
4. Class size
5. Teacher and staff information
6.
Curriculum and instruction
7. Fiscal and expenditure data
Most (but
not all) school districts in San Diego County have school accountability report
cards posted on the web. See Contacts/Links, San Diego County Office
of Education for SARCs.
San Diego Area Public Schools
In San Diego
County, there are three types of school districts: elementary, high school and
unified. Each of San Diego County's 42 school districts is governed
by a locally elected board of education. School district and city
boundaries are not necessarily contiguous.
Unified school
districts contain both elementary and secondary grades. All school
districts offer basic education programs was well as special programs and
services. Personal contact with an individual school district is the
best way to learn about school calendars, facilities, curriculum, graduation
requirements, extracurricular activities and other areas that differ from
district to district.
The San Diego Unified School District is the larges
in the county, and the eight-largest urban school district in the
nation. The district serves most of the metropolitan area within the
San Diego city limits and provides a variety of educational programs and options
for students in kindergarten through high school. It operates a
system of neighborhood schools, with all children eligible to attend the school
serving their residential address unless the school is severely
overcrowded. In such instances, the district assigns new students to
a school with adequate space and provides free transportation.
See
Contacts/Links for contact information on all 42 school districts.
Magnet
Schools and School Choice Program
Parents also have options to send their
children to schools outside the neighborhood by enrolling eligible students in
the district's magnet programs or the School Choice Program. Magnet
schools generally have a particular focus, such as art or technology, or follow
a different structural organization, such as mixing different grade levels
within one classroom, or operating on a year-round schedule. Magnet
schools are not governed by neighborhood boundaries; they draw students from
throughout the school district and must accept students on a nondiscriminatory
basis. Magnet programs are operated as part of the district's voluntary
integration program and the district provides free
transportation.
The School Choice Program provides enrollment
options for students who reside within the district boundaries and who wish to
attend a school other than the school of residence. Although some
schools in the district are operating at capacity and cannot accept Choice
Program students, others have space available for interested
families. The district does not provide transportation for this
program.
The district also operates an extensive program for
students with exceptional needs including programs for academically gifted
students and programs for students with special
needs.
Charter Schools
There are approximately 57 charter
public schools in the San Diego region. The "charter" in charter
schools is a performance contract detailing the school's program, goals,
students served, methods of assessment and ways to measure
success. Local business leaders, high-tech companies, teachers'
unions, parents, educators and community members develop the schools, which are
free to exercise increased flexibility in school management in return for fiscal
and academic accountability to sponsors, parents and the
public. Charter school enrollment is voluntary and is not governed by
neighborhood boundaries, which means your child can choose to attend any charter
school within your district, or outside your district, that has
space.
Alternative Schools
These are generally schools whose
educational philosophies are different from traditional programs. Typically,
alternative schools have small classes, social and emotional development
curriculum, and self-paced academic curriculum. This title is used officially as
well as informally to describe a wide range of schools, so it's important to ask
specific schools why they are classified as "alternative."
Home
schooling
Another option is for parents to teach their children at home
instead of sending them to a public or private school. Each state has
different laws governing home schooling. Many communities have
organizations that assist home schooling families with curriculum and
opportunities to meet other home schoolers. To home school your
child, you can register with the local school district or the San Diego County
Office of Education. You'll be given a standard curriculum to follow
and an assigned teacher who will monitor your child's progress. If
you wish to home school independently, you must file a private school affidavit
with the State of California and create your own curriculum, or purchase it from
a private company.
School Transfers
School districts generally set
their own policies for intradistrict transfers (from one school in the district
to another) and interdistrict transfers (to a school outside the district).
Preferences are often given to children whose childcare provider is near a
particular school, or whose parents work in the city where the school is
located. Most school districts have an appeals process if your request is
denied. Space limitations often make transfers difficult, and each district's
process has its own regulations, so be sure to check with your local district
for specific requirements.
Private Schools
Private schools are
schools that do not receive funding from the state and therefore do not have to
follow the state's Education Code. Families of the students pay
tuition or, in some cases, students receive scholarships to
attend. The teachers, principal, board of directors (and sometimes
the parents and students) decide upon curriculum, teaching methodology and
enrollment requirements.
San Diego County is home to more
than 200 private primary and secondary schools. Such options to
public schools offer families a learning atmosphere tailored to their own
philosophies and their children's specific needs. In addition to the
many church affiliated schools, there are a number of private schools that serve
students who are handicap impaired or possess learning disabilities or emotional
and behavioral problems.
Accreditation by independent
agencies is available to private schools. Schools volunteer to have
their programs inspected and evaluated. Accreditation is not
necessary in order to be considered a good school, but it indicates a school's
desire to be accountable to its own expectations.
Private schools vary
widely, from highly structured to self-directed learning environments, to
college prep and curriculum strong in artistic expression. Most
private schools are church affiliated; however, they often accept students of
any religious background.
Values are integrated into the curriculum at
private schools whether they are centered around religious faith or individual
responsibility. With such a large variety of educational choices in
the San Diego area, parents have only to inquire as to what the emphasis is,
what the social atmosphere is like and what teacher qualifications are and they
are sure to find a good fit for their children. Parents should also
inquire about scholarships, entrance requirements and waiting lists.