About Kensington Public Schools

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  • Relocating to Kensington, figuring out schools

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    Jun 8, 2021

    Hi, we are relocating to the area from Newton, MA for one year.  My husband has a sabbatical at UC Berkeley and we will be in the area from August 2021 to July 2022.  We will be living with my mother-in-law who lives in Kensington. We have three children who will be in 1st, 4th, and 6th grades.  I registered my kids for WCCSUD and I think their registration is complete, pending a utility bill as proof of residence. One of my children has an IEP and because of the IEP we were told that he could not attend the Hilltop School, and that there is no space at Hilltop for my 6th grader anyway. We are waiting for the program coordinator to contact us to find to which school or schools my kids will be attending.  We were told that there is no transportation available, except for possibly my 4th grader because he has an IEP. And there is no guarantee that my kids will attend one school.  Because my 4th grader has a social disorder, I really want my kids to attend one school - I think he would find it comforting to know his siblings are there with him and it would be easier for him to adjust to a new school. Anyone have any advice about navigating the system?  When we are eventually assigned a school, can I make a case for all three kids to stay together?  It really doesn't feel like FAPE to me...

    Jun 8, 2021

    Unfortunately there is no guarantee of same school for the kids, especially this late in the game. I would try making that case once you are actually in the area but as someone who works in the district, they sadly don’t often see that aspect as “impacting academics”, the classroom sizes can’t be overloaded also. I moved from outside Boston too and greatly miss the amazing schools, especially coming from Newton. But there will be other wonderful experiences by having this time for a year with family and in California, I would say hope for best with school knowing it isn’t same as Newton and that there are so many other things outside of school to learn and experience while living here. 

    I wonder if you could also request a meeting about the IEP once school starts and mention this hope that the 1st and 4th grader can be together? 
     

    Jun 9, 2021

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions:

How do I find out if I'm in the Kensington District?

December 2003

We recently purchased a home in Kensington on Colusa Ave. and shortly after moving in were told by a neighbor that we are not districted for Kensington Elementary school. Suffice it to say we were not happy as that was one of the reasons we loved the house. Then, we met the family that recently moved out of the house next door and they told us that their daughter went to Kensington elementary. Does anybody know how districting works for Kensington schools? Our daughter is only 17 months old right now, so we have a few years to figure this all out. Thanks.

confused in Kensington


Information on Kensington (West Contra Costa USD) districting and a contact person can be found here: http://www.wccusd.k12.ca.us/RSD/ResSchDir/resdir.htm

a West Contra Costa parent


In response to the question about the Kensington Elementary boundaries -- go to the West Contra Costa School District resident school directory http://www.wccusd.k12.ca.us/RSD/ResSchDir/resdir.htm website and look up your street address. Scott


We found ourselves in the same situation. We bought a house in Kensington only to find that we were supposed to send our kids to Harding in El Cerrito. The El Cerrito/Kensington border is in our front yard and the school line is in our back yard! The good news is that we were able to transfer in both cases and our kids have always attended Hilltop. Contact the transfer office in Richmond, at the West Contra Costa USD Office. The process for us was to register each child at Harding in Feb or March, I believe, and then ask for the transfer form. In our case, the transfers were approved in May, but I have heard of other neighbors who had a harder time getting in. It depends on space at the school and on your willingness to wait until the last minute for an answer. Please contact me if you have any questions. Robin