Late Open Enrollment is now closed. The District will continue calling families from the waiting lists for schools as spaces become available through this week. After this Friday, May 7, wait lists will be dissolved and the Open Enrollment process will be finished for the coming year.
The District has posted updated information on the number of available spaces (and wait list length) at each school by grade level. The wait list numbers are the number of applicants who were placed on the waiting list for that school/grade when the original OE applications were run through the lottery.
NOTE: The PUSD website lists "0" people on the wait list for Hamilton, which is incorrect. The wait list numbers for Hamilton as of the initial OE lottery run were as follows: K=46; 1st = 5; 2nd = 9; 3rd=0; 4th=0; 5th=4. Any late OE applications for Hamilton would have been added to those waiting lists.
Note also that Hamilton, like several other schools, has revised its projected Open Enrollment openings, based on the number of students who registered during March. So, for example, Hamilton now projects 28 openings at the Kinder level, which will be offered first to families on the existing waiting list. District Welcome Center staff will continue calling people from the existing wait lists to fill current "openings available" through this week. If the existing waiting list is exhausted and openings remain available, the District will begin contacting late OE applicants.
Key dates for this year's Open Enrollment process
The priority enrollment period for siblings and for the dual language programs at San Rafael (Spanish-English) and Burbank (Mandarin-English) is now closed. However, San Rafael and Burbank may still be accepting applicants whose dominant language is Spanish (for the Spanish-English immersion program at San Rafael) or Chinese (for the Mandarin-English program at Burbank). Contact the school directly for more information.
The Open Enrollment application period is now closed. PUSD received a total of 2,420 OE applications (for all grades) this year, compared with 2,565 last year. A total of 1,721 applicants (71%) were accepted to one of their choices; 46% of these received their first choice. A total of 1,306 applicants are currently waitlisted for their first choice school. This includes the 607 applicants who got a space in one of their 2nd-6th choice schools, and the 699 applicants who did not get a spot in any of the schools they listed.
Families that applied for an OE spot have received a letter notifying them of their student's acceptance or wait list status. Applicants not placed in their first choice school are wait-listed for that school and considered for their other school choices, in order of preference. Applicants are not put on a waiting list for their 2nd-6th choice schools, only for their first choice school. You can check your status online, by going to the Open Enrollment page at www.pusd.org.
All families who have been accepted to one of their OE school choices must register at that school during this period. Families planning to attend their neighborhood school are also strongly encouraged to register during this same period. If you register at a school other than your first choice school, you still remain on the waiting list for your first choice school.
Following the March registration period, school re-assess the number of spaces they can make available to Open Enrollment applicants. Beginning on Wednesday, April 7, families can file up to three "late applications" for permission to attend a school other than your neighborhood school. Filing a late application does not affect your current registration status or your position on the waiting list for your first choice school.
Late applicants are assigned to the end of existing waiting lists. If an opening is (or becomes) available at your child's grade level, you will be called and given the opportunity to go to that school and register.
Likewise during this period, applicants wait-listed for their first-choice school may be called and given the opportunity to register if a space becomes available. Welcome Center staff will make up to three phone calls to try to reach you at the number you put on your application, and you will have three business days to complete the registration process at the school site.
Late applications must be filed at the District Welcome Center (351 S. Hudson), and are considered on a first-come, first-served basis. The status of school waiting lists and openings will be posted at the Welcome Center by noon on Tuesday, April 6.
(Families still on waiting lists at that time will be notified by mail.)
See also the open enrollment page on the PUSD website.
General Information
PUSD's Open Enrollment process is for those families who are residents of PUSD (Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre) who wish to attend a school other than their neighborhood school. (Note: families enrolled in pre-k programs at a PUSD campus other than their neighborhood school are NOT automatically entitled to attend kindergarten at that campus. They must go through the open enrollment process.) To find your neighborhood elementary school, consult the attendance zone map or use the District's school locator. The map is labelled "fall 2006", but attendance zone boundaries have not changed since then, so it is still current. (PUSD also has attendance zone maps for middle school and high school.)
Click here to view/download a District slide presentation on Open Enrollment (OE)
What if I want to register at my neighborhood school? You do not need to fill out an OE application if you wish to enroll at your neighborhood school. Historically, schools begin registering neighborhood students in March. If your school is very full (for example, Sierra Madre), you may want to check with the school to find out when they will begin registering students, and try to get in there as early as possible.
What is the neighborhood "preference zone"? Don Benito, Norma Coombs, and Marshall Secondary are NOT neighborhood schools. You MUST fill out an OE application if you wish to enroll your child in one of those schools, even if you live right across the street! 25% of the school's available spaces are set aside for people who live within the school's preference zone. If your address is within the preference zone, your OE application will automatically receive priority consideration for one of those spaces. If you do not get one of the "preference zone" spaces, your application will be reconsidered as part of the general OE lottery for the remaining spaces.
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