Several schools have reached capacity for certain grade levels.  Please be aware of this as you submit online registration or enrollment paperwork.

*Additional grade levels and schools may be at capacity for transfer requests. Visit the transfer options page here or contact us at [email protected] for more information regarding the transfer request process.

School Enrollment and Capacity

Parents outside of the Natomas Unified School District (NUSD) boundaries, or those already enrolled and choosing another NUSD school, may enroll their child in an NUSD school based on the school’s grade and program capacity. NUSD will be accepting Open Enrollment Intradistrict Transfer request applications for the next school year beginning November 1 (next business day if November 1 falls on a holiday or weekend) thru January 31. Applications for open enrollment received after the January 31 deadline will be dated, filed, and considered only after students whose applications were submitted by the deadline have had an opportunity to enroll. Any applications for open enrollment received after the January 31 deadline will automatically be placed at their home school of residence unless space becomes available at their requested school. Families may be notified at the conclusion of each enrollment window if their application for Intradistrict School Transfer request was approved.

There are two types of schools

• Attendance area school
• • Each school has a designated boundary and all homes that fall within that boundary are considered part of the that school’s attendance area
  • To determine the attendance area school for any home address, use the School Locator tool

• Non-attendance area school
  • Parents can apply to schools in the district, be it an attendance area school or non-attendance area school, and can list as many schools as preferred. List school choices in the order of preference.

When a school is overcrowded, attendance area students may need to attend another school in the district. There is no guarantee that a student will be assigned to his/her attendance area school. In addition, transportation is not provided for general education students unless otherwise noted.

When a school is overcrowded, the student will be placed on a waitlist for that school. If enrollment drops to a level where the students on the waitlist can be accommodated, the school will contact parents with the option to return to the attendance area school. This happens at the end of the year or during the school year. The priority to return will be determined based on the categories outlined below.

Open Enrollment Priorities

If the Superintendent or designee has determined that there is excess capacity students shall be selected to enroll on the basis of the following priority categories:

Category 1: Subject to space availability, a student request to attend the same site as their sibling if the sibling is already enrolled at the school. This also includes children of Natomas Unified School District (NUSD) employees employed at the requested site.

Category 2: Non-attendance area students without siblings at the site requested. In-District open enrollment applications are given priority over out-of-District open enrollment applications.

NOTE: If a category contains too many students at a site to allow acceptance of the entire group, the district will accept students from the category by lottery. If additional capacity exists beyond an entire category, the district may use a lottery to select students from the subsequent category.

Open Enrollment Application Options

District resident students may apply for open enrollment in schools in the district. Open enrollment students within the district and open enrollment students out-of-district may apply for enrollment in schools, grade levels and/or programs within the district subject to the procedures listed below.

Eligibility

Students who apply for open enrollment status in the district must:

• Understand that enrollment is subject to the capacity limit established for the school, grade levels and/or programs.
• Agree to provide their own transportation.
• Agree to abide by the District’s Uniform Code of Student Conduct and the school’s rules.
• Understand that attending a school outside of your attendance boundary may result in lengthy travel. Open enrolled students are expected to attend school during regular school hours.
• Agree to regular and punctual attendance and understand that the district will apply all appropriate statutes and policies regarding attendance.
• Secure athletic eligibility for transfer students.  Athletic eligibility of transfer students is regulated by the California Interscholastic Federation.

Understand that purposefully providing false registration information may result in the application being denied or revoked or lead to an investigation and possible disenrollment if false information was provided and the student was enrolled.

Changing schools:

Open enrolled students choosing to attend another district school for the following school year will be required to complete open enrollment documents. Students are subject to capacity limits and other provisions within this policy.

• Administrative transfers: A change requested by a parent or legal Guardian, after the school year begins, for the current school year, to the enrollment of their student. These requests will be considered under the administrative transfer process. 
• An administrative transfer is recommended by the sending and receiving principals when it is in the best interest of the students and approved by the Superintendent or designee. 
• Return to home school (attendance area school): Open enrolled students who request to return to their home school will not automatically be enrolled at that school, determination will be based on capacity. Requests will be filled following the open enrollment process listed above.

Status of Open Enrolled Students

Once the district approves an open enrollment application, it is not necessary to re-apply for open enrollment to the same school in subsequent years. If the student wishes to change schools or if there has been a break in the student’s enrollment at the school the parent may re-apply for open enrollment. The district shall treat open enrolled students the same as resident students for purposes of continuing admission to the school in which the student is enrolled.  

Exception to Eligibility and Revocation of Open Enrollment Status

A school is not required to admit a student who has been expelled by any school during the period of expulsion or with a condition of disciplinary action imposed by any other school or with a condition imposed by the juvenile court.  Acceptance for enrollment may be revoked upon finding the existence of any of these conditions.

A school shall not admit a nonresident or resident transfer student if the school has been notified by the district or the nonresident school district that the admission of the student would violate a court order of desegregation or an agreement with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights directed toward the remediation of alleged or proven racial or ethnic discrimination.

Exception:

Should there be excess school, grade level and/or program capacity and/or availability remaining for which no applications were submitted by the date established, the Superintendent or designee may authorize additional enrollment of nonresident pupils:

• Up to the determined school, grade level and/or program capacity and/or availability.
• On the basis of the order of the completed applications submitted after the notification date established in the policy.
• Without regard to enrollment preference.
• As long as admission standards are met.

*Disclaimer: This process was developed in alignment with Board Policy and Administrative Regulations and is subject to change from time to time as changes to BP and AR’s are approved by the NUSD Governing Board. The NUSD School Enrollment and Capacity document is updated as soon as possible following an approval. The provisions of this process do not constitute a contract, expressed or implied, between any applicant or student and NUSD.