Kindergarten admission in Cherry Hill public School (buying a house, neighborhood)

[Docrad]

I have son to enter Kindergarten next year. We are also in the process of buying a house in the Cherry Hill area. I will be grateful if people can share their experience in this regard. Is it difficult to get a good rating elementary school through open enrollment ? When does this process start ? Please feel free to share other tips.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Docrad

I have son to enter Kindergarten next year. We are also in the process of buying a house in the Cherry Hill area. I will be grateful if people can share their experience in this regard. Is it difficult to get a good rating elementary school through open enrollment ? When does this process start ? Please feel free to share other tips.

Check the board of education's website.

Find the elementary school that you want then try to move to that area. Below high school you would be responsible for transportation if you choose another school other than the assigned school.

[Docrad]

Thank you for your reply. I am OK providing transportation, but am liking a house to which assigned elementary school does not have a good rating. Any idea how difficult it is to get into a good elementary school via open enrollment ??

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Docrad

Thank you for your reply. I am OK providing transportation, but am liking a house to which assigned elementary school does not have a good rating. Any idea how difficult it is to get into a good elementary school via open enrollment ??

I have no idea. I lived in Cherry Hill for over 40 years but did not deal with that & don't know anyone who did. Check the Board of Education's website. I would call them & question them. None of the schools are significantly different in quality. The website ratings depend heavily on end of year testing. Any school can have a bad year with the tests. Which school is it?

[NJGOAT]

They are pretty clear on the BOE website that first priority is given to kids who live in the sending area for that elementary. After that, space is opened up on a grade level basis until the schools reach maximim enrollment. One year, there could be 15 spots for K at "School X" and the next year their might only be 4. Once you are in though, you are committed to attending that school throughout. The only way to guarantee the school you attend is to live in that neighborhood. The process is ultimately done by random lottery, so the difficulty of getting in changes every year based on how many slots and how many people apply.

[bumblebee721]

We are just about to close on a house in the Woodcrest neighborhood in Cherry Hill and I went through the same questions you are going through. Are you guys just moving to NJ? We are and I'm getting kind of sad looking at the homes we missed out on buying due to me just being intent on staying in a good elementary school district.

Where we live now I had to play that game of requesting my son to go to a school outside of our district every year and it was nerve wracking and annoying at once. So when looking for a home in CH, I just wanted somewhere I knew I would be zoned for a great elementary school without question. I'm just going to throw this out there: we are zoned for Woodcrest (excellent school) but I really loved, loved, loved a house that was zoned for Clara Barton - which had terrible ratings and just didn't seem as confident in offering a positive experience. I really hope that I made the right decision and I hope you will too!

You can definitely request entry to an out-of-zone school but the other poster is right, they will only grant the request based on space for that year - although they will give some consideration to kids who've been there.

Anyway, it seems like we're on the same path - much luck to you! If you need to find new friends when moving there, let me know

[Species 8472]

Uh? Can't you just buy a house in cherry hill in in the jurisdiction of the elementary school you want? if you want woodcrest Elementary then move to that development.

[Erltonmom]

We loved a house in Clara Barton sending district and moved there. Our kids are not school age yet but we plan to send them to Barton. Does anyone go there? What do you think?