Kindergarten registration for the 2020-21 school year for children who will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1 is now or soon will be underway in local school districts.

The Portola Valley and Woodside Elementary school districts also offer a transitional kindergarten program for children who turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 1. The Woodside and Menlo Park City school districts also offer preschool programs.

Preschools

The Menlo Park City School District began registering incoming preschoolers in November.

Registration is open at the Early Learning Center (ELC), a fee-based preschool that first opened in 2018. Eligible children must be 3 years old by Dec. 1 and fully potty trained by the first day of school. The preschool, which has sites at Lower Laurel School in Atherton and Oak Knoll School in Menlo Park, serves children who are just under 3 years old to 5 years old.

The school has full- and half-day options.

Enrollment is by lottery. The application deadline for the first lottery has passed, but applications received before Feb. 20 will be included in a second lottery on Feb. 28. The lottery for students requesting tuition assistance will be conducted Jan. 31. Deadline for tuition assistance applications was Jan. 27.

Parents can apply on the district's website at mpcsd.org. For more information, email ELC Director Jessica Mihaly at jmihaly@mpcsd.org. For information in Spanish, email Wendy Valencia at wvalencia@mpcsd.org or call 650-324-0186, ext. 8900.

More information on ELC registration is available here.

Woodside Elementary will hold its preschool open house on Friday, Jan. 31, at 8:30 a.m. at 3195 Woodside Road in Woodside. The district's two-week "priority enrollment" period begins that day.

The Woodside Preschool application will be available online and at the orientation. Minimum preschool age is 3 years old by Feb. 1, 2021, and the minimum age for prekindergarten is 4 years old by Dec. 1, 2020. Email Director Tom Limbert at tlimbert@woodsideschool.us for more information.

Las Lomitas Elementary School District

Las Lomitas district registration began on Jan. 27. Parents should bring the following information to the Las Lomitas School office at 299 Alameda de las Pulgas in Atherton between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays: an original birth certificate or passport, proof of residency (the originals of two utility bills or a utility bill and lease or mortgage contract) and current immunization records. Cellphone bills do not qualify as proof of residence.

Families will then register online through InfoSnap, the district's online registration system. Parents must bring a copy of the forms to the school to finalize registration. Students will not be placed in a class until all immunizations are completed.

The school will host a tour for parents of incoming kindergarten students from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.

For additional questions about the registration requirements, call Las Lomitas Elementary at 650-854-5900.

Menlo Park City School District

Families of incoming kindergartners, and all other new students, can begin the registration process on Feb. 3.

Encinal School at 195 Encinal Ave. in Atherton will host a kindergarten information night from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 30. Parents interested in the Spanish Immersion kindergarten program are required to attend an information session; the district has scheduled sessions on Jan. 30 from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m in Encinal's library; on Feb. 3, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Oak Knoll School; on Feb. 6, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m, the city of East Palo Alto's community room; on Feb. 13, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Laurel School's Lower Campus; and on Feb. 27, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., in the district office's TERC Building.

There will be a tour of Spanish Immersion classrooms at Encinal's office on Feb. 27 from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.

For more information, contact the district registrar at 650-321-7140, ext. 5600, or email registrar@mpcsd.org. Registration is available here, using the Enrollment tab.

Portola Valley School District

Ormondale School at 200 Shawnee Pass in Portola Valley began its registration process on Jan. 22 for children entering transitional kindergarten and kindergarten. Transitional kindergarten is open to children who turn age 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 1; kindergarten is open to those whose fifth birthdays fall on or before Sept. 1.

Registration procedure packets are available in the main office.

Call 650-851-1777, ext. 2652, for more information.

Woodside Elementary School District

Woodside school district kindergarten registration begins March 2.

The school has scheduled a transitional kindergarten and kindergarten informational meeting and tour on Jan. 29 from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. It will also host tours Feb. 7, March 20, April 17 and May 29 from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Call 650-851-1571 to reserve a spot.

Go to the district's website here to find the packets and more information.

A birth certificate, proof of residency, immunization records and a physician's report will be required before a child enters school in the fall.

For more information, contact Elvira Ramirez Martinez at elviramartinez@woodsideschool.us or 650-851-1571, ext. 4002.

-