Navigating the OUSD Lottery

I obviously don’t know you, and don’t know the specifics of where you live or which school you’re talking about so I may be off base here, but your post seems to reflect a lot of assumptions that may not be accurate. When you say you live on the “less desirable side” of 580, I assume you mean you live below 580. I do too, by choice - I love my neighborhood and my neighborhood public school, where I have a first grader and an incoming kindergartener. I can’t tell from your post whether you’ve done any actual research (tours of the school, speaking to parents or staff) or just looked it up on GreatSchools or something similar, but I highly encourage you yo go do before deciding it’s not right for your child. There are many great public elementary schools in Oakland, yes, even on the “wrong” side of the freeway. Also, your child is ONLY 2! Chances are things will change before they enroll. You really don’t need to be too focused on this right now.

All that said, the nice thing about OUSD is you are not stuck with your neighborhood school. There really aren’t any “strategies” to employ, other than touring schools, talking to parents and staff, deciding which ones you like best, and taking your chances in the lottery just like everyone else. If you don’t get into your top choice right away, you can always try your neighborhood school for a year - maybe it will surprise you — and apply for your top choice again for first grade.

I wouldn't worry about it too much if you are spreading a wide net beyond the richest schools in OUSD (Crocker, Thornhill, etc.) 

My kids go to Cleveland Elementary and a large ratio (1/2-1/3) of students are from outside the catchment zone, and the kindergarten classes have been a bit under-enrolled (~20-22 students per class, when max is a bit more). It's a wonderful school with strong academics, lots of community and a very involved PTA. We considered a couple other schools that also had strong academics but were not completely in the hills (Glenview Elementary, Lincoln Elementary). 

If your daughter is particularly verbal and academically-oriented, I'd also look at some of the language immersion schools (Manzanita SEED, French Charter). That challenge would've been great for my elder but not my younger child, and I refused to split them up.

I can hear in your question how worried and concerned you are about this but there are lots of options and time to figure it out.  Others might have other options but l'll talk about what we did and how we made choices within OUSD.

There are lots of good OUSD schools and it is very possible toget into some of them outside of neighborhood. Look outside the traditional high demand schools and you'll still find ones thatare good fits for your kid. For example, we were looking for a Spanish immersion program. MLA is the high demand option. But touring others and asking around we found 3 or 4 others we'd be happy with. We've ended up at Greenleaf which has everything we wanted but is not that popular with people outside the neighborhood.

So, when the time comes (the winter before the fall your kid will enroll), tour a lot of schools, talk to neighbors and friends about where their kids go,  do  some internet research about schools outside the high demand bubble. I'd encourage you to even tour your neighborhood school. A lot can change in a few years and you might be surprised by what you find. Then, ultimately rank your choices, cross your fingers and hope for the best. It's helpful to remember there's no one best school for your kid but many that might work. And you can always try again the next year if your first placement doesn't work out.

Hello, welcome to this side of the 580. My family lives here too. The  ousd school system can be stressful to navigate, but it's also not that bad. Because so many families have moved away from Oakland, seats are not filling up as fast as they used to. Schools with high reputations still have wait lists, but I've heard anecdotally that those wait lists clear within the first two weeks of school. So, with patience, families may still end up with their #1 choice of school even if they're not zoned for it. Since you have time (with your child not being quite TK age yet), you may want to take some time to read the book Learning in Public to understand the education system on a deeper, more nuanced level. (The book examines their experience entering an OUSD school and a lot more.) This may help put the choices in better perspective. But to get into the nuts and bolts of the process, you're allowed to add as many schools as you like for the lottery and rank them. Any school you don't get into that is below the one you do get an offer at will drop off the list. (The lottery results take place in March.) Everything above the school you receive an offer for, you will be waitlisted for. You can accept the offer you receive and still remain on the waitlist for the other schools. Some people will accept an offer from their higher-ranked school all the way up until the first two weeks after school begins. Some families settle for the one they got an offer at. When it comes to deciding who is offering a good education, this one is complex and shouldn't be relegated to only word of mouth. Word of mouth tends to rely on reputations that built up many years ago and may or may not reflect the current reality. A great principal and amazing teachers & school staff that stick around for a while will make for an amazing school. This will not be reflected on school ranking websites. Test scores alone are not a great picture into whether a school is good. Aside from reading the book, I also recommend talking to families who have kids in your neighborhood school and talking to families with kids in other schools that are located in areas that work well for your commute (if you have a commute). See what families have to say. We've been happy to discover that our kids (now ages 10 and 14) have been receiving amazing educations at schools that are never on high-reputation list or even include a wait list. Great teachers, lovely school culture. Best of luck as you navigate and learn about the Oakland public education system! 

Especially at OUSD, a lot might change in the next couple years, so I would definitely encourage you to tour your neighborhood school and talk to local parents about their experience as there is a lot to be said for being in a neighborhood school and not driving across town twice a day. That said, if you decide that school is not for you, there are several larger elementary schools that end up having more spots for non-catchment kids. Tour those as well! If your daughter falls into the TK range, or there is TK for all by the time you enroll, her TK spot would guarantee her K spot.

We don't like on "the side of 580" but our local OUSD school was Great Schools ranking 3/10. We toured the school and felt pretty good about it, so we gave it a chance. It seemed silly that we would not when we could literally see the school from our window. We are glad we gave it a chance. Teachers were great, families were nice, and the child was fine. Was it the best education our child could have gotten? No but I cannot imagine a teacher that would be better than the one we had. Was it satisfactory at the price of zero? YES! 

We moved to another neighborhood in Oakland and went to our local OUSD school again. This school is rated 6/10, so better rated but not the best like the Hills schools. Both schools had some great teachers, some OK teachers, and some not-so-great teachers. The main difference I saw was money and time. The better rated school raised more money and had more parents who volunteered time (and money) than the lower rated school. 

Our neighbor in our old neighborhood didn't want to try the local school due to the low rating. They got waitlisted at their desired school and got off of the waitlist 1 week before school started. They have an older child who was also waitlisted and got off of the waitlist 2 or 3 days after school started. (The kids didn't overlap because of the age difference.) The older child moved on to apply to OUSD middle school and high school outside the neighborhood and got their 2nd choice middle school (Claremont) and 1st choice high school (Oakland Tech). Maybe they were exceptionally lucky, but it seems that this is a very common story. 

Also, don't forget charter schools!