San Jose Preschools (Cupertino: school districts, vs, kindergarten)

[flic82]

Hi,

We're relocating to the area from the East Coast, and are currently considering Willow Glen or Almaden areas. We have a 4 year old who currently attends a part time pre-k program that we love. Its run by the public school district, although we pay for it. Is there any equivalent in San Jose? We're finding it hard to work out how the system works over here.
Thanks!

[jk88cal]

San Jose school district is not unified. There are many school districts in different part of the city. And elementary, middle, vs high schools usually are not the same district. So identify the elementary school district you are interested in. Go to their website. And if you don't find what you need, call them.

As far as I know, there are no public school districts offering pre-school. Public schools starts with transitional kindergarten (TK). Child must be 4 years old by Sept 1st. Most TK are only 2-3 hours each day; many schools have morning vs after session. Basically, I find TK not worthwhile and very inconvenient. Due to it's special hours, major of pre-school/afterschool won't pick up from TK; and their 1/2 day hours do not match TK hours. So basically working parents have to pay for full day pre-school plus coordinate the travel arrangement in order to attend TK. Might as well have the kids go to all day pre-school.

There are a few districts (I know Cupertino started this year) where TK follows same schedule as elementary school, which is roughly 8-2:30. And no issue going to afterschool, because their hours and driver pickups are matched with elementary school.