How do I get on a waiting list?
After receiving an assignment, parents may apply by submitting a waitlist request form via email (waitlist@berkeley.net) for a place on one or more waiting lists, including schools outside their zone. Priority is given to students within their attendance zones.
How are the waiting lists made?
The first round of requests for placement on a school’s waiting list must be made after the student assignment letter has been received by the family (mid-March) and before the waitlist deadline (last business day in March). Through a lottery, students are given a waitlist number. Any school offering from the waiting list will conform to the student assignment policy. Information on this policy and its implementation is available on the Understanding the Elementary Student Assignment System webpage or in the Admissions Office.
How do I find out if my child got placed into a school or where my child is on a list?
You may contact us after the waiting list has been compiled (late April) to find out what number your child is on a waiting list. Please provide your child’s name, grade, and the schools you have wait-listed by email at waitlist@berkeley.net and we will respond within 7 business days with that information. Unless you request your child’s place on the waitlist, you will not be contacted regarding the waiting list unless you are being offered a spot.
How do I apply to the Two Way Immersion waitlist?
Two Way Immersion waiting lists are separate lists from the regular school list. If you want to be on the waiting list for a two way immersion class, please specify that in your waiting list request. More information on the TWI program is available on the Bilingual and Two Way Immersion Programs webpage or by calling or visiting the Admissions office.
How many waitlists can I apply to?
You may place your child’s name on as many waitlists as you wish. Each waiting list is mutually exclusive, so your number on one list is not connected to your number on another waiting list. Priority is given to students within their attendance zones.
How are waitlist positions determined?
Waitlist(s) positions are determined by lottery for K-5 schools. Because school assignments must be made in accordance with diversity categories and in line with district policy, a student who is number 7 on a school waitlist may be offered a spot before a student with number 3. More information on the definition of the diversity categories is available on the Understanding the Elementary Student Assignment System webpage.
Waitlists for a middle school placement are determined by your address. Students who live in either the Willard or King attendance zone can request placements at Longfellow Magnet Middle School. Student assignments to Longfellow are made by random lottery.
Can my child’s position change on the waitlists?
Yes. Positions on an elementary school waitlist are also affected by the diversity categories and zone of residence. For example, a student who is number 7 on a school waitlist may be offered a spot before a student with number 3 due to the student assignment policy.
How and when do I renew my child’s position on the waitlist?
Waitlists are established once student placements have been made. Waitlists are valid for the current school year, families must reapply each school with the exception of the dual immersion waitlist.
Do the waitlists expire?
Yes. Waitlists do not stay active from one grade to the next. You must re-apply to the waitlist the following year if you were not given a space at the school of your choice. Families can also request a possible transfer during round 1 of the lottery.
When will I be offered a transfer opportunity and how will I be notified?
When a space seat becomes available, we will offer the seats off the waitlist. You will be contacted by phone and you must respond within 25 hours or risk losing your spot on the waitlist. Your child’s name will only be removed from the waitlist for the school we are offering you.
During the summer months, we ask you to leave any vacation contact number and email. We will also accept a letter in writing stating that you will accept the transfer should it become available and we are unable to contact you. This letter must be very specific if you are on more than one waitlist.
Please note that once you submit the letter the student will automatically be transferred and you will not be able to request the previous school be reassigned.
After the start of school, only one transfer a year is allowed.
When will my child be transferred?
If you are offered a transfer once the current school year has already started, your child will transfer within a few days after the acceptance of the transfer. If you are on the waitlist for the next school year, we will start offering transfers from mid-June and continue through the summer months once available spaces are identified. Your child would then transfer at the beginning of the next school year.
Can I apply to the waitlist(s) if my child does not currently attend a Berkeley Public School?
Students can get on the waitlist(s) only if they are currently enrolled in a BUSD school and are Berkeley residents or BUSD employees. If a student is no longer enrolled in a BUSD school, they forfeit their spot in their current school as well as their spot on the wait list.