Moving to Piedmont or Lamorinda from out of state
Hi,
I grew up in Berkeley and my husband and I are planning to move back to the Bay Area from out of state with our two children (currently ages 1 and 5) in the next year or two. I have logistical questions related to school.
Our older son is born in August and where we currently live the school cut off for kinder is July 1, so he will be going into Pre-K. We are considering moving to Lamorinda or Piedmont for the schools within the next year or two. If we move next year when he turns 6, will he be able to enroll in kinder or will he go directly into first grade? If we move the following year when he turns 7, will he be able to go into first grade or would the school district make him skip first and go into second grade? If he does end up starting first grade at age 7 (or kinder at age 6), will he be the oldest as an August birthday or will there be other “old” summer birthdays in his class. As I mentioned, I cannot enroll him in kinder where we currently live because the cut off is July 1.
Our younger child will be 2 or 3 when we move. How long are the waitlists for preschool programs and should I plan to waitlist her before we move? Are Piedmont residents guaranteed a spot in the city’s preschool program?
We are not planning to do private school but I am curious how competitive/difficult it is to get into a private school in the Bay Area for elementary. Where we currently live it took us 3 application cycles (starting at age 2), to get accepted into a program since most spots go to alumni children, siblings, church members etc. Is it similarly difficult to get into a private school as a “new family” in the Bay Area?
I’ve heard good things about both Lamorinda and Piedmont schools. Any general feedback on your experience at these schools or living in these neighborhoods is also welcome!
Parent Replies
I have never heard of a school district having a child skip a grade due to age. And first grade would be so difficult to skip. It's more about readiness than age. I would not push him to start first grade if he hasn't yet completed kindergarten and I think the school district would agree. It sounds like he would be right on track with the other kids maybe just a couple of months older.
We moved to a new city at the end of the school year so we were late for registration for my oldest daughter. The new district placed her in the school that is twice as far from our house initially and we needed to be on the waitlist for our home school. Fortunately, we were accepted to the home school so she will be starting the school year off there. Registration opens in January and you are required to show proof of residency including some type of bill with your address. I don't think you will have a problem, but that is just something to be aware of when planning the move. I would try to move early summer.
We were looking for preschools in Berkeley, but we found it much more common for programs to start at age 3. Programs that were for age 2 were more of a daycare setting with younger toddlers or babies. Again, we were looking in Berkeley, but we found it challenging to find a program that met all of our needs. If you are open to a lot of options (cost, distance, philosophy) I don't think you will have a problem.
I'd reach out to the specific school districts of piedmont, Orinda, Lafayette because they will probably have different cut off dates etc. In Berkeley, I believe the cut off date is Sept 1 for birthdays. Our daughter was in kinder this year in Berkeley and she will be turning 6 in August. If you're son is 6 starting kinder, he will definitely be among the oldest in his class. That being said, there are some who will advocate that it can be beneficial for boys vs girls to be the oldest, I find it's more of a personal decision as you know where your son is at developmentally or otherwise.
I imagine each school district will have different rules regarding whether he can go into first or second grade so I'd reach out to them.
The schools in Orinda, Lafayette and Piedmont are great but they will not have the same kind of diversity economically or otherwise relative to Berkeley or even Albany. Are you looking to rent or buy when you move? Lamorinda and Piedmont are some of the more expensive areas in the east bay. I wouldn't say Berkeley/Albany is cheap but there is generally more inventory for rentals as well as homes for sale.
As far as private school for elementary it depends on which school. Our daughter went to a private school for pre kinder since she wasn't eligible for transitional kindergarten and while there was an application process it was relatively straight forward.
I'm heavily involved with the PTA at my daughter's elementary school in Berkeley so I'm happy to answer additional questions offline.
The previous response made me smile because the only school district I know of that does have kids skip kinder if they're age-eligible for first grade is Berkeley! (It's a policy intended to prevent red-shirting, and I believe it is their practice up until second grade, but if you call and ask they can confirm.) I don't think you'll have an issue in Piedmont, but don't know the Lamorinda districts. He will likely be the oldest since the California cutoff is September 1st, but someone has to be! We know of two families who did hold their summer birthday kids but it's not super common--I think we actually know more kids who started early than kids who started late.
Preschool waitlists are not super crazy compared to places like, say, New York City. You typically apply for the upcoming school year the winter before, so if you know you're moving it makes sense to apply on the standard timeline so you're not scrambling to find an open spot. Residents do have priority in the Piedmont preschool programs, but we know plenty of Oakland families who have sent kids there too so I don't get the sense it's hard to get a spot. (Note that they're not full day, though.) Similarly, private schools are not competitive the way they are in some other parts of the country--families seem to self-select at many and it's not uncommon for schools to have a few open spots into the summer. Again, though, you'll benefit from applying on time if you decide you want to go that route. Good luck with the move!