Registration is now open for the 2020-21 school year at the Early Learning Center (ELC) preschool in the Menlo Park City School District.

The preschool, which has sites at Lower Laurel School in Atherton and Oak Knoll School in Menlo Park, is accepting applications until Dec. 7, at midnight.

The first lottery will be open only to children who live in the school district or are eligible for the Tinsley Voluntary Transfer Program, those whose parents or guardians work for the district, and current ELC students and their siblings, according to ELC's website.

Eligible children must be 3 years old by Dec. 1, 2020, and fully potty trained by the first day of school.

Children applying for the ELC program for the next school year are given priority in the following order: if they are a current ELC student or their sibling attends the preschool; if they are a district resident or they're eligible for the Tinsley Voluntary Transfer Program, qualify for an ELC scholarship and their sibling is enrolled in the district; if their parents are district staff (children of ELC staff receive first priority among staff); if they live outside of district borders; and families that apply after Dec. 7.

Applicants will be notified of their lottery status in late December and will be asked to enroll by mid-January to secure a space.

If there are still spaces available after the first lottery, a second lottery will be conducted in 2020.

The lottery for families requesting tuition assistance will be conducted in January.

There will be part-day and full-day program offerings next school year.

At ELC Laurel, located at 95 Edge Road, there will be two full-day classrooms running from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a minimum day on the first Thursday of each month. There will also be one part-day classroom open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with an option for early care for 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

At ELC Oak Knoll, located at 1895 Oak Knoll Lane, there will be one full-day classroom running from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a minimum day on the first Thursday of each month.

There will be tours of both preschool campuses: on Dec. 6, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Oak Knoll; and on Dec. 4, 9 to 10 a.m., Laurel.

Most spaces are full for this school year, but openings do occur, according to ELC's website. Contact 650-463-1236 if you are interested in a space for your 3- to 5-year-old child during the 2019-20 school year. Children must be fully potty trained and 3 years old by Dec. 1.

Apply for the 2020-21 lottery here.

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