Schools

Brookside Transition Process Approved

Letters will be sent out to parents notifying them of their appointed school.

The was approved last night by the board and letters began to be sent out to parents today.

As and campuses transition to two separate K-5 schools and for incoming students in the fall, parents are attempting to grasp how the situation will effect their kids. In addition, Upper Brookside Principal submitted her official resignation last night to the board, making some parents nervous. She will be leaving to work at Vallecito in San Rafael.

“People are just kind of feeling the nervous jitters right now,” said Brookside parent Kim Lear.

Find out what's happening in San Anselmo-Fairfaxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The full transition will take three years and . Next year, Upper Brookside will have only first through fifth grade, while construction begins on Kindergarten classrooms. In addition, in an effort to save $100,000 on portable classrooms the interim, for just one year the daycare program at Upper will be moved into the multi-purpose room. At Lower, the daycare program, run by the YMCA, will remain in the multi-purpose room.

Lower Brookside, next year, will have just Kindergarten through third grade, with seven Kindergarten classes. Kindergarten will be added to the Upper campus in 2012-13. Three of the classrooms for next year’s Kindergartners will also be designated for kids destined for Upper campus, who will transition there in first grade.

Find out what's happening in San Anselmo-Fairfaxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Letters are currently being sent out to all current Brookside parents letting them know where their child will be attending next year, based on the final boundary decisions made by the board in early May.

This the basic placement information for current Kindergartners through fourth-graders at Brookside schools:

  •  Current Kindergartners or first-graders who reside within the new boundaries for Manor or Wade Thomas, will continue to be placed at Lower Brookside.
  •  Current second-graders who reside within the new boundaries for Manor or Wade Thomas, will continue to be placed at their current attendance site, either Upper or Lower Brookside.
  •  Current Kindergartners through second-graders who reside in the new boundaries for Lower Brookside, will be assigned to Lower unless assigned to Upper due to a sibling at Upper. Site preference forms were used to determine sibling information.
  • Current Kindergartners through second-graders who reside within the new boundaries for Upper, will be assigned to Upper.
  • All current third- and fourth-graders will remain at Upper through fifth-grade.

Brookside parents are encouraged to take advantage of a special Brookside transfer process that is being put in place for families that want to switch from Upper to Lower or from Lower to Upper. This process is taking place before the rest of the district transfer process for Manor and Wade Thomas in an effort to accommodate all current Brookside families. 

Families who were at Brookside and would continue to be placed there under the above guidelines, but have been assigned to Manor or Wade Thomas under the new boundaries, may also apply for an intra-district transfer to their boundary-determined school.

All requests for Brookside intra-district transfers must be submitted by June 9 at noon to be on the first priority list. A lottery will then be held and transfers granted based on space available.

A second priority list will begin for all requests submitted after that date. Parents must accept their spot granted under the lottery by June 16 or the space will be offered to the remaining students on the first priority list, then on the second priority list.

Transfer applications will be mailed with the letters sent to parents or can be picked up at the district office.

The goal of the transition process was to make sure it was clear and fair to all parents. Now, said both Upper Principal Smith and Lower Principal Marci Trahan, most parents are eager to know which campus they’ll be attending and start making plans for the fall.

“Let’s get it started,” said Smith.

Correction: The article originally inaccurately stated the effect of moving the daycare YMCA program during the transition year. Both Upper and Lower will continue to have daycare services before and after school.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from San Anselmo-Fairfax