Figuring out which school or district your child will attend

I have noticed a lot of questions recently about how to figure out school and district boundaries or how to find out which school your child will attend.

The best way to figure this out is to contact the local district directly. If you are unsure which district you fall under you can use the GreatSchools "Research and Compare" function at www.greatschools.net/modperl/go/CA to search for schools near your current or potential address. Then click on the school names to find out what districts they are in. (Remember that private schools are not affiliated with a district so they will not list this information.) Quite a few school districts are organized by county or town so you can also do an internet search with the words "school district" and the name of your town/county and state as keywords. Sometimes you can also get this information from a local Real Estate agency.

Next call the district or visit their website to find their exact boundaries and admission rules. In some districts you can attend any school in that district, while others assign neighborhoods to a specific school. Districts that assign schools may have exceptions to this rule, but you will need to contact them for specifics.

Charter, magnet and private schools have different rules so keep this in mind as you are asking questions and doing your research. For these types of schools it is best to contact the school directly to find out what their policies are.

You might also check out our School Choice tips page at www.greatschools.net/content/schoolChoiceCenter.page