The Menlo Park City School District Board of Trustees will consider a change to its internal enrollment boundaries, shifting some students currently zoned for Encinal School in Atherton to Oak Knoll School in Menlo Park during a Thursday, Jan. 18, meeting, according to a district press release. The move would not affect current students, and their incoming siblings.

The board will review a new zoning map, which shifts school assignments for families that live on a few blocks between Valparaiso and Middle avenues, up to Alma Street and down to University Drive.

If the board approves the boundary shift, the changes will be in place in time for February priority new student registration for fall 2024 and will be posted on the district's enrollment webpages, according to the release.

The district's demographic data shows that over time Encinal's enrollment is predicted to be most impacted by new housing development within Menlo Park. This increase is coming as a result of the development of Stanford University's Middle Plaza development at 400 El Camino Real and projects in downtown Menlo Park.

"Planning now for future enrollment will allow a more balanced outcome for both schools," the press release states.

Additionally, facility capacity for Encinal is limited while Oak Knoll currently has the ability to open more classrooms, and the shift in attendance boundaries would promote more access for students to bike and walk using Safe Routes to School, according to the district.

There is one concession: the district will allow any currently enrolled students or incoming siblings to maintain enrollment at their current school.

Initial plans

Initial plans, which impacted a larger portion of the district, were presented to the board at a Dec. 14 meeting. During that meeting, board members gave input to staff and an adjusted boundary map will be presented on Jan. 18. Board members signaled initial support of the amended plan in December.

The board had been considering planning for students who reside west of El Camino Real or in Middle Plaza to attend Oak Knoll rather than Encinal.

Encinal enrollment

Oak Knoll and Encinal are the only schools in the district, which enrolls about 2,733 students in total, that saw enrollment growth this school year.

Enrollment increased by almost 5% (from 602 students to 629) at Encinal from the 2022-23 school year to the 2023-24 school year, according to September data from the district.

Some of the growth district is coming from the state's mandate to gradually expand transitional kindergarten (TK). The program will need to be available to all 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. There are 90 new TK students in the district during the 2023-24 school year.

Meeting details

The meeting takes place at 6 p.m. at 181 Encinal Ave. and virtually on Zoom. View the agenda here and the staff presentation here.