Many of you are wondering what to do if you don’t get your first choice, or if you change your mind about which school is the best fit for your child. First off, if you plan to send your child to public school, you must accept your assigned school before the deadline of April 10, 2020 to hold your spot. Note the registration period of March 23-27 and April 6-10, 2015 excludes spring break. There is a new process, electronic or mail, to accept your school, due to the COVID19 Shelter in Place Order.
Scenario: You love your assigned school
Register at your assigned school before April 10th, and look for welcome events. Congratulations!
Scenario: You like but don’t love your assigned school
Accept your assigned school before April 10th. Next, look at your round one list, and make an effort to add more schools that might be less popular. Delete any school you prefer less than your current assigned school. Then rank order the remaining schools by your true preference. Meanwhile, try to tour your assigned school to see if your opinion remains the same. Oftentimes, our many tours start to blur, our children change, or priorities change. Read my blogs about the SFUSD Lottery Mechanics, SFUSD Lottery Strategy, and SFUSD Lottery Misperceptions. Second round applications are due April 10th online or by mail.
Scenario: You hate your assigned school
Consider that your reject could be someone else’s dream school. Try to tour the school to see if your opinion remains the same. If you change your mind, see the scenario above; if not, the school might be worth registering at for a backup. Now, take out your one list and edit it to add more schools that are less popular and might meet your needs, and update your preferences since you last looked at it. Read my blogs about the SFUSD Lottery Mechanics, SFUSD Lottery Strategy, and SFUSD Lottery Misperceptions. Second round applications are due April 10th online or by mail.
Special Considerations
If you have special considerations, you can file an appeal by April 10th, along with your round 2 application. These appeals are rarely granted and never granted for parental convenience. The one appeal that SFUSD grants by policy, a parent who teaches in a permanent position wants their child assigned to the same school.
For twins, I recommend at this round not linking them for the reasons posted by School Board Member Rachel Norton. Essentially, if you don’t link your twins, you will have two shots at each school, and then can link your second twin in round three, when the second twin will have sibling priority.
Need more help?
Vicky consults with families to help select public and private schools in San Francisco in an environment of non-judgment. Email to learn more about her services.
Hi Vicky, it's not clear for Round 2 -- our family falls into Scenario 2 for middle school (You like but don’t love your assigned school) -- would a student get assigned to a school NOT LISTED on the Round 2 application? This happened to us for Round 1 elementary school applications, and fortunately, in Round 2, we were able to get one of our top 3 choices. But for middle school, we don't want to release our Round 1 assignment (SFUSD says it would automatically be canceled by a Round 2 assignment) to a school that is not even listed in our Round 2 application. Can you clarify, thanks!