Enrollment & School of Choice *

Enrollment in Your Neighborhood School

Enrollment in your neighborhood school begins March 1, 2023. Just go to your school and get the needed forms and information. They will be happy to help you. We do ask that if you can enroll as soon as possible, that you do, because it helps us in planning for staffing needs for the upcoming year. If you need to see which school is your neighborhood school, click HERE for the Boundary Maps. Thank you and we can't wait to meet you!

School of Choice

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE OFFICIAL DEADLINE FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL OF CHOICE APPLICATIONS HAS PASSED. SCHOOLS MAY ACCEPT LATE APPLICATIONS, IF THERE IS SPACE AVAILABLE. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR THOSE GUIDELINES. THE INFORMATION BELOW IS PRESENTED TO SHOW YOU HOW THE PROCESS WORKS. IT WILL BE UPDATED FOR THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR IN THE FALL OF 2023.

Almost all of our Simi Valley Schools are considered School of Choice (SOC). (The standing exceptions to SOC are Hollow Hills Elementary School and Vista Elementary School, which are fundamental schools, and Santa Susana High School, which is a magnet school.) In some years, schools that are filled to capacity may be closed to SOC, but for the 2023-2024 school year, all of our schools except those listed as standing exceptions are able to accept SOC applicants. As long as the school is not filled to its capacity with existing students and incoming neighborhood students, students living outside the neighborhood boundaries of a school may apply to enroll in that school, and the school may accept these students until the school is filled to capacity. If there are more applications than there are available spots for interested students, the school will conduct a random lottery to select the number of students they are able to accept.

SOC applications must be submitted online. Students living in a school's boundary area have first priority and do not need to complete a SOC application. (Please click HERE for a Boundary Area Map.) SOC applications were due on or before 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. Applications submitted before this deadline will not have an advantage over applications submitted up to the deadline. Please take your time to make your final decisions before submitting. Once your SOC application is submitted, you will not be able to change your selections. If you submit a SOC application after the Tuesday, February 28, 2023 deadline, your application will be still be considered, but priority will be given to those who have already met the deadline. If your post-deadline application is for a school with a waiting list, your application will be added to the bottom of the waiting list in the order in which it was received.

You may select up to THREE schools to apply to. THE ORDER OF YOUR CHOICES DOES MATTER. For example: "1st Choice" indicates that this school is your number one choice of school to attend. For this year (2023-2024), each school will have online resources to provide extensive information about the school. There may be live virtual events also scheduled. These resources and events can be found on each school's website. Please review these materials before submitting your SOC application. These materials were created to help you make an informed decision. All SOC placements are based on random lottery selection and NOT first-come, first-served.

The SOC Application link is below. Complete all the information on the SOC application. All SOC applications were due before 4:00 PM on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in order to be considered for openings. Late SOC applications will be placed on the school's waiting list.

THIS FORM CANNOT BE USED TO APPLY TO OUR FUNDAMENTAL SCHOOLS (VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND HOLLOW HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL), SANTA SUSANA HIGH SCHOOL, MONTE VISTA SCHOOL OR FOR INCOMING TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN (TK) STUDENTS. IT CAN BE USED FOR ALL OTHER SCHOOLS IN OUR DISTRICT, AND FOR GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 12TH.

FOR TK ENROLLMENT, PLEASE USE THIS LINK.

FOR FUNDAMENTAL SCHOOL APPLICATIONS, PLEASE USE THIS LINK.

FOR SANTA SUSANA HIGH SCHOOL INFORMATION, PLEASE USE THIS LINK.

FOR MONTE VISTA SCHOOL, PLEASE CALL THE SCHOOL DIRECTLY AT (805) 579-6326. THANK YOU!

School of Choice Frequently Asked Questions

What is School of Choice?

Almost all of our Simi Valley Schools are considered Schools of Choice (SOC). (The standing exceptions to School of Choice are Hollow Hills Elementary School and Vista Elementary School, which are fundamental schools, and Santa Susana High School, which is a magnet school.) In some years, schools that are filled to capacity may be closed to SOC, but for the 2023-2024 school year, all of our schools except those listed as standing exceptions are able to accept SOC applicants. As long as the school is not filled to its capacity with existing students and incoming neighborhood students, students living outside the neighborhood boundaries of a school may apply to enroll in that school, and the school may accept these students until the school is filled to capacity. If there are more applications than there are available spots for interested students, the school will conduct a random lottery to select the number of students they are able to accept.

What if we want to apply after the deadline?

We will take SOC applications after the deadline, but these applications will be placed at the bottom of the school's waiting list. As space becomes available, applicants will be advised of their potential enrollment.

Who can apply for School of Choice?

Any school-age child living in the boundaries of the Simi Valley Unified School District may apply for SOC. But, some students with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) may be directed to a specific school because of that student's needs. SOC can be used by any existing student at any grade wishing to transfer into another school that is not the student's neighborhood school. You do not need to submit a SOC application if you are planning to attend your neighborhood school. 

Click HERE to see the Boundary Maps for Simi Valley Schools' elementary, middle and high schools. Locate your address on the appropriate map to determine which school is your neighborhood school.

How do we apply for School of Choice?

To apply for SOC, complete the form(s) required. The link to the SOC Application is found at the top of this page. SOC applications were due on or before Tuesday, February 28, 2023 SOC applications submitted by this date will be given equal weight if a lottery is needed to determine admission to the school for SOC 

How are the applicants chosen for School of Choice enrollment?

Beginning in March, schools start to determine if and how many open seats they have in their school by each grade. (The incoming grades--Kindergarten, 6th, 7th and 9th grades--are usually the grades receiving the most SOC applications.) If the school has enough available open seats for the applications received, then all applicants will be notified that they may enroll in the school. If there are more applicants (by grade level) than there are open seats, then the school will randomly draw on-time applicants from the group and offer enrollment to those students. The applicants who are not initially selected will be placed on a waiting list in the order in which they are randomly drawn, with priority given to the order. (Number one on the waiting list will have priority for an available seat over number five on the waiting list.) Applicants are told what their waiting list number is to help them assess the potential for enrollment.

If an applicant who has been offered enrollment into their SOC declines the enrollment, the next applicant on the waiting list is offered the position. This process continues until ALL of the available seats are filled, or until there are no more applications for that grade level.

I've submitted applications to a Fundamental School and School of Choice.

If you ARE selected for one of the initial spots at a fundamental school, you had until Tuesday, February 28, 2023 to enroll your child by submitting the required forms to your school. ONCE YOU SUBMITTED THE ENROLLMENT FORMS, YOUR CHILD'S NAME WILL BE REMOVED FROM ANY OTHER SOC APPLICATION YOU MAY HAVE SUBMITTED AT OTHER SCHOOLS.

If you were NOT selected in the fundamental school lottery, applicants were placed on the that fundamental school's waiting list, in the order of the lottery selection. Parents also applied to other schools via SOC during the open enrollment period.

1. Determine if you want your child to attend your neighborhood school or another school in the district for kindergarten. If you desire a school other than your neighborhood school, you would have submitted a SOC application by Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
2. If you desire that your child attend kindergarten at your neighborhood school, enroll your child at that school during March. Enrolling your child as early as possible will help us to plan for the coming year.

When will we know if our child has been accepted into our School of Choice?

As said above, the process begins in March and applicants can be notified as early as the end of March/beginning of April. Because there are many factors that constantly shift throughout the end of the school year to determine how many open seats are available at a school, an applicant may not have a definite answer about acceptance into their SOC even up to right before the school year begins in August. An applicant's neighborhood school will always accommodate a new student, so many families plan to attend their neighborhood school as they wait to hear about a SOC application. 

May we submit a School of Choice application to more than one school?

Yes. But when an applicant is offered a position at a school, they are given a strict deadline to accept the placement and submit all enrollment paperwork. Once the paperwork is submitted, the student's name will be removed from all other SOC lists.

Who may we contact if we have additional questions about School of Choice?

Our schools all have warm and friendly staff members in the offices who are happy to answer questions and guide prospective families through the process. Feel free to call any school you are interested in at any time during normal school hours.