Please review all of the information below to make sure that you are following the correct procedure.

The first round of Open Enrollment for grades Kindergarten - 12 will take place between 9 a.m. on January 6, 2021, and 4:30 p.m. on February 5, 2021. Prior to applying for Open Enrollment, you must register at your school of residence through our centralized Enrollment Center. 

If you do not know your school of residence, please refer to the district's School Locator webpage. You can visit the Enrollment Instructions webpage for more information about the registration process. Please direct any enrollment questions to your school of residence or our Enrollment Center at (408) 423-3596 or enrollment@scusd.net.

The Board of Trustees for Santa Clara Unified School District has established a policy of limited Open Enrollment in our District. Although some of our schools are already at capacity, this policy allows families who reside within our district boundaries to request enrollment for their children at any school within our District, when/where space is available. Admittance to the school of your choice under Open Enrollment is done by an annual random lottery system. If you applied last year and were not admitted, you will need to reapply again this year if you want to be considered for your school of choice.

Families with children previously placed at their school of choice through Open Enrollment need only reapply if the child will be changing schools (moving from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school), requesting a different school of choice, or enrolling an additional child (sibling).

First Round of Open Enrollment (2021-2022): January 6, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. to February 5, 2021, at 4:30 p.m.

The first round of Open Enrollment for grades Kindergarten through 12 includes one school choice. For families with a student already attending an SCUSD school or a student who will be entering Santa Clara Unified for the 2021-2022 school year desiring to attend a school within the district, that is NOT your school of residence, this is the time to enter your request of Open Enrollment. We encourage all Open Enrollment applicants to attend one of our parent information tours (dates coming soon).

Although the date of your application does not affect your chances in the lottery, we encourage you to begin the application process as early as possible as you may have questions or need assistance. Only one application per student will be accepted.

Deadline for First Round of Open Enrollment

The deadline for accepting or declining First Round Open Enrollment Placements is March 21, 2021.

Second Round of Open Enrollment (2021-2022): March 21, 2021, 9:00 a.m. to April 30, 2021, at 4:30 p.m.

The second round of Open Enrollment allows families a second opportunity to apply. Students who did not get accepted to their school of choice through the first round of Open Enrollment or who missed the deadline can apply during this window. Only one application per student will be accepted.

Deadline for Second Round of Open Enrollment

The deadline for accepting or declining Second Round Open Enrollment Placements is May 26, 2021.

If You Received an Open Enrollment Acceptance Letter

If you accept your 2021-2022 open enrollment assignment, please notify, by email, the secretary/registrar at the school where your child was accepted to advise them that you are accepting the spot. Please do this by 4 p.m. on March 21, 2021, for First Round Open Enrollment and May 26, 2020, for Second Round Open Enrollment. 

If you do not accept your open enrollment assignment, please notify, by email, the secretary/registrar at the school to advise them you will not be attending, and email your home school to let them know that you will be attending your home school. Please do this by 4 p.m. on March 21, 2021, for First Round Open Enrollment and May 26, 2020, for Second Round Open Enrollment.

In your email, please include the following information:

• Student name
• Student grade
• Student permanent ID number (this was used during your open enrollment application)

If You Received an Open Enrollment Decline Letter

Please send an email to your home school secretary/registrar to advise them regarding your plans for next year, including whether you will be attending your home school. Please do this by 4 p.m. on March 21, 2021, for First Round Open Enrollment and May 26, 2020, for Second Round Open Enrollment.

In your email, please include the following information:

• Student name
• Student grade
• Student permanent ID number (this was used during your open enrollment application)

After the Deadline

Students requesting a change of school after the second round window is closed need to apply at the Enrollment Center through the Intradistrict Transfer Request process for schools that may have space available. Students accepted to attend a school on an Intradistrict Transfer must apply for the opportunity to continue at that school for the following school year through the Open Enrollment process. Only students accepted to a school through the Open Enrollment process are guaranteed placement for the following year. Please call the Enrollment Center at 408-423-3596 for more information.

New Schools

Open Enrollment for our new schools — Abram Agnew Elementary and Dolores Huerta Middle School — will follow the same schedule as all of our other schools. For more information about the boundaries for these schools please visit our School Locator webpage.

Washington Open & Millikin Basics+

Families wishing to enroll their child at Washington Open or Millikin Basics+ are encouraged to attend parent information tours. Each of these schools has a very different educational philosophy.

Please review the "Open Enrollment Priorities Clarified" section below so that you are aware of the different priority levels for Open Enrollment.

Peterson+

Peterson Middle School has a 6th grade program, Peterson+, that serves as a one year transition from a Basics approach to the eventual heterogeneous format found in Santa Clara Unified’s other middle and high schools. For the 2021-2022 school year, 135 students will be assigned to the four Peterson+ classes through a fair and random lottery process. Equal opportunity for enrollment will be provided to students residing outside the Peterson attendance areas (through the Open Enrollment Application) as well as to students residing within Peterson’s attendance area (through the completion of an application at Peterson Middle School while registering for 6th grade during the Open Enrollment window). Families of students residing within the Peterson attendance area must bring proof of residency at the time they come to Peterson to apply for Peterson+. Students applying through the Open Enrollment process as well as Peterson attendance area students applying through the registration process at Peterson Middle School must apply between January 6, 2021, and February 5, 2021. Due to the large number of applicants for this school, there will be no second round of Open Enrollment for Peterson+.

A parent meeting will be held at Peterson Middle School after registration has ended. Families of students who have been accepted to the Peterson+ program will be advised of the date and are strongly encouraged to attend.

Dual Language Immersion Program

Give your child the gift of a second language!

SCUSD launched its first Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program at Scott Lane Elementary in the fall of 2020. In a DLI program, native English-speaking students, native Spanish-speaking students, and Bilingual students learn together in the same classroom, interacting and developing language skills together. Please visit the Scott Lane DLI webpage for more information.

Spanish Bilingual Program

Both Scott Lane (grades 3 through 5) and George Mayne Elementary (grades 3 through 5) schools offer a Spanish Bilingual Program that focuses on helping children develop their English language skills while providing instruction in their home language. Students must be Spanish speakers to enroll. Families interested in having their student participate in this program should apply through Open Enrollment.

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Enrollment

Open Enrollment does not apply to Transitional Kindergarten as our Open Enrollment policy applies to K-12 students only. For more information please visit the TK webpage.

Open Enrollment Priorities Clarified

Elementary schools receiving requests for admission shall give priority for attendance to:

1. Siblings* of students who are enrolled at the school at the time of open enrollment.
2. Students currently attending the school through the overload process and who apply for Open Enrollment during designated Open Enrollment windows.
3. The children of employees who work at the school.
4. The children of other employees.

Secondary schools receiving requests for admission shall give priority for attendance to:

1. Siblings* of students who are enrolled at the school at the time of open enrollment.
2. The children of employees who work at the school.
3. The children of other employees.
4. Siblings of graduates of the school, as long as the family continues to live within the SCUSD boundaries.

As long as the employee privilege remains in place, siblings of employees’ children attending district schools will be afforded the same priority status as resident siblings.

Note: Twins applying to the same school must be entered separately and will each receive a lottery number. When applying, also check the "Twins" box and enter the Permanent Student Number of the sibling twin.

Permanent Student Number Required

You must register the student through the Enrollment Center to obtain an assigned permanent student number before initiating the online Open Enrollment process. For more information about how to register a student please visit the Enrollment Instructions webpage.

Obtaining a permanent student number may take up to two business days. The final day to obtain a permanent student number for open enrollment purposes is January 29, 2021. Families of students already attending school in Santa Clara Unified will need to obtain their child's permanent student number from the school their child is currently attending.

Students Attending School on an Intradistrict Transfer During the 2020-2021 School Year

Students attending a school, other than their school of residence, on an Intradistrict Transfer must apply for the opportunity to continue at that school for the 2021-2022 school year through the Open Enrollment process. Only students accepted to a school through the Open Enrollment process are guaranteed placement for the following year. Once a student is accepted through Open Enrollment, the choice school becomes the student’s permanent placement through the grade span served at that school.

Step-By-Step Guidelines for Open Enrollment

1. Determine your school of residence using the School Locator.
2. Register online to obtain your permanent student number.
3. Wait to receive your permanent student number from your school of residence. This can take up to two days.
4. Register for Open Enrollment using your permanent student number during one of the windows listed above.

*Note: When applying for Open Enrollment and reporting "sibling status" (i.e. a sibling is already enrolled at the school of choice; or in the case of high school, is or was enrolled at the school of choice) please be advised that the connecting link in the database to establish sibling status is the "primary phone number." It is therefore imperative that families verify the phone number provided to the school for the currently enrolled sibling, inform the school of any change to this phone number, and use the same phone number when applying for 2021-2022 Open Enrollment. If you are unsure of the phone number you have listed as your "primary phone number," please contact the school office where the sibling is currently attending.