Details on Applying at Rancho School

, the only Novato public elementary school that does not have neighborhood borders from which to draw its students automatically, has several tours coming up as part of the ’s open registration for kindergarten.

In the past, parent tours were required for enrollment applications at Rancho, which has a lottery system for enrollment. Now, parents are strongly encouraged to take in the campus tour.

Anyone may fill out a registration packet at any neighborhood school office as well as an intra-district transfer application. For kindergarten enrollment, children must be 5 years of age as of Nov. 1, 2012, to register for the 2012-2013 school year. 

Rancho, which is open to all students who live in the NUSD area, will have 9:15 a.m. campus tours on Dec. 8, Jan. 23 and Feb. 9.

Students who attend in private schools may also complete an intra-district transfer application for enrollment at Rancho. If placement is offered to Rancho, enrollment at their neighborhood public school will be required before acceptance of the placement.

Intra-district transfer applications are due by March 5 at the district office. Parents are encouraged to complete the application at the time of enrollment. Only one intra-district transfer request may be on file at a time.

Families requesting a transfer within NUSD will be notified as to the status of their request by March 19. If there are more requests than there are spaces, the district will conduct a lottery. Families will be notified of the date and time of the lottery and attendance is not required.

The lottery will establish both enrollment and placement at Rancho on a one-year waitlist. If a student is not placed before the end of the 2012-13 school year and the parent would like the student to remain on a wait list, an intra-district transfer application needs to be completed and submitted for each subsequent year.

Once a student is enrolled at Rancho, further intra-district transfer applications do not need to be submitted. Siblings of concurrently enrolled students have priority of enrollment.

To learn more about the policies, go to the Contents tab at www.ranchoschool.org and selected Rancho Enrollment Information, Tours.

Through its outreach program, Rancho provides all enrollment information in English and Spanish to more than 30 different locations around the city, including preschools, day-care facilities, the Novato Mother’s Club, DELAC and the press. Spanish translation is also provided on specific tour dates and Spanish translation will be made available upon request.