With Rochester holding its  School Choice Expo at the Riverside Convention Center on Saturday, district Supt. Bolgen Vargas announced a guarantee to help families be assured of placement in the elementary school that is most comfortable and convenient for them.

The “RCSD Home School Guarantee” assures families that children who live within a half-mile of a neighborhood elementary school can attend that school if they choose. Students entering kindergarten from one of the District’s school-based pre-K programs will receive top priority for placement after families who live within one-half mile.

“If a family buys a home in the City because it is near a particular neighborhood school, they want more than a strong hope that their children can enroll there,”  Vargas said. “Similarly, families who attend one of our school-based pre-Kindergarten programs often want to adopt that educational community. As a customer-focused organization, we need to do our utmost to help these families be part of the home school they have chosen.” 

The policy applies to the District’s 32 neighborhood elementary schools, and not the nine “citywide” elementary school programs that families from any neighborhood can attend if they secure a spot by entering a lottery.

 March 1, 2013 is the deadline to apply for Kindergarten placement,