Middle School Options in San Francisco?
Hi - I recently went through the dreaded lottery process for SFUSD Middle Schools. We went through all 5 rounds and didn't get any of the schools we wanted. Last Friday, I went to the SFUSD offices and found the only options for 6th grade are schools on the other side of the city, which just would not work for us (I have a soon to be preschooler and a son in 2nd grade, both of their schools are in our neighborhood). When I asked the enrollment person, "So my daughter just doesn't go to school then?" they literally shrugged and said, "Sorry." I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on what my options are? We aren't in a position to afford the $30,000/year private school tuition and all of the charter schools are filled for the year. I'm assuming homeschool is going to be my best bet but I also have no idea where to start with that either. Any advice is SO appreciated as I have been spinning in circles over this since January. Thanks!!
Parent Replies
Try talking to your city council representative.
You might want to check out the Catholic schools which are K-8, and where the tuition is probably $7-8K/year. Our family had a wonderful experience at Star of the Sea School. Less than 50% Catholic and very diverse student body and faculty, ethnically and religiously. Great education and many SF Catholic schools are very open and non-tradional and extremely welcoming.
Catholic school. Start calling around to find one with space. Start with your closest parish school.
Unfortunately proximity is not a factor school systems such as SF and Berkeley consider when assigning schools. One option is to enroll one of the kids into before/after school care so drop off and pick up times don't overlap. Option two is to find/organize a car pool of families near you who attend the same school. Maybe for both/all three kids. Option three is investigating if your middle schooler can take muni to school. Option four is Uber/Lyft. I also believe there a some start ups that cater to kids. In the meanwhile, keep in touch with the middle schools nearby for any mid-year openings. Good luck.