Berkeley TK or one more year of preschool?

I just had a daughter complete TK in the WCCUSD; so, a different district, but still may be useful for your thought process. TK was almost identical to the K curriculum, just spaced out differently. The TKers were expected to act like kindergarteners in terms of amount of time sitting, social-emotional behavior, etc. They get report cards! As a parent, you are immersed in the school's culture and schedule. If as a family, you're ready for "big school", and your child can handle the classroom self-management, fine. Free is free! But if any of you feel unready - and I saw lots of kids, mostly boys, who probably were not ready for the first 6 months of the school year - feel free to wait out the year in preschool. Kindergarten will cover all the same academic material.

My daughter was in TK last year. A different district, though – we are in Albany. We were very happy with the TK program. It was not the same as the K program. The kids weren't required to learn how to read, although they did go through the alphabet and were encouraged to write phonetically. They had some free play times as well as structured activities. I thought it was a perfect program for this age group – a bit more advanced/challenging than a typical preschool but not quite as demanding as Kindergarten.

This really depends on the kid.  My daughter had an September birthday and we put her in her preschool's Pre-K program.  That was the right decision for her; she was (and is) a very bright kid but needed extra time to mature socially.  Other kids might be ready to start.  I would ask Malcom X about the number of fall birthdays they typically have in their kindergartens.  And talk to the preschool teacher about where your child might fit on the kindergarten-readiness scale.

Thank you all!  This is helpful advice and just nice to hear that others are making these decisions too, and that it all works out in the end.