Not held in conjunction with Unified Enrollment, Open Enrollment provides one more chance to apply to a school that has openings and your family is not already zoned for.
The link is here. Families can apply to up to 5 schools. Some schools have under a handful of spots and a few high schools have 150+ spots.
Best of luck.
Ask A Magnet Yenta 
Hi! We just move to Northridge Area. Just for a background, we live in SFV (pacoima) before so my daughter went to Vena Magnet school for her 1st to 2nd grade, and when shes 2nd grade, she took the test and was identified as Gifted. But for 3rd grade, we moved to Lancaster, Ca and she went to a regular elementary school.
Now that we moved back to SF Valley, but now in Northridge, i tried to get her in to Vena Magnet for 4th grade but they said theyre full, but she got accepted to vena Magnet (api 10/10) for 5th grade. We were told that for 4th grade we can enroll to any lausd then come back to Vena for 5th grade.
Now, our home school in Northridge is Topeka Charter, SAS (api score 9/10) I read a lot of info about SAS and charter, now my concern is, what is the best move to do?,since Topeka is SAS, should i just keep my daughter in that school till 5th grade and call Vena that I decline the acceptance (im considering because of proximity, and traffic), i meant SAS program is good too. I mean, what is really the difference between magnet and SAS? Just confused,coz im also info junkie.
And just recently, Mayall elementary Magnet school (api 7/10) just called me and asking if were still interested to get in, i will need to cancel the acceptance in Vena so my daughetr can go to Mayall Magnet. I applied to this school somewhere in April since I am concerned that Proximity to Vena magnet from Northridge will be a problem eap the traffic in the morning.
If I list a super competitive magnet as #1 choice, with my real less competitive choice as #2, and I select to go to #2, do I still get to keep the points when not admitted to #1? Thank you!
If you list a super competitive magnet first, your likelihood is you not be admitted. The application then would see if you could get into #2. When you are admitted to #2, you are no longer in the running for #1. No wait list points because you are in your second choice that you selected. We strongly suggest you do not use this approach. You should only apply to schools that you are equally happy with–or only choose one school and hope for the best.
Thanks for this site! Its super helpful!
I had a question regarding enrollment for kindergarten pls. Im going to be enrolling my daughter into porter ranch community school (its our home school).
what are your opinions of that school please? It seems as if it is highly rated on the great schools website, but it’s only 9 reviews, whereas other lausd elementary schools have like 50+ reviews.
I dont believe (from what i see on prcs’s site) that prcs is a gate/magnet/charter school…? If it truly is not any of those, is my kid still able to get an evaluation/recommendation from her kindergarten teacher to apply to balboa for first grade? Does it hurt her chances of being considered for admission to balboa if prcs is, in fact, not a gate/charter/magnet school?
Is it also too late to apply for a random elementary magnet school to accrue points (i believe its 4 points..?) to accrue so she can have 4 pts if she is eligible to apply to balboa for first grade next school year?
Thanks for any info you can provide!
If her kindergarten teacher at prcs does, in fact, deem her gifted and recommend her to go to balboa for first grade, is there anything else besides points and the teacher recommendation letter that may assist in the facilitation of increasing her admission chances into balboa for 1st grade? Ive seen mention on your page about lausd psychologists (though ive read also on ur site its difficult and may be a long wait process).
Hi, I can’t comment on PRCS as I have no experience with it.
It is not a magnet nor a charter. It does offer a dual language program that requires an E-choices application that would have been due last fall.
I wouldn’t worry about how many reviews a school has. PRCS is a newer school, so it wouldn’t have as many as other schools.
Any school can evaluate a child for giftedness. Typically it’s done in second grade, but it can be done sooner. But if a school says they don’t see the indicators, they can say no.
It is indeed too late to apply for points.
You can check out PRCS as your neighborhood school and opt down the road for other schools. Plenty of people try to apply to go to PRCS so you are already lucky.
Sorry, me again… just to give you a little bit of info. Before entering kindergarten this upcoming 2020 fall school year, she can read elementary kid chapter books, do addition, subtraction, and simple multiplication, and write sentences legibly. Does that seem like she may be eligible for balboa for first grade? Im just (Im sure like all parents) trying to find a good fit.
If she is not eligible to transfer to balboa for 1st grade from prcs, what lausd elementary schools do you recommend applying to that will please? I will try to enroll in the schools you recommend. Again, super thankful for any advice u can help out with!
My suggestion, during this pandemic, is to check out your neighborhood school–PRCS and check it out. Many, many gifted students do attend there.
You would be applying in kindergarten for first grade with no points. Those are not impossible odds, but it’s a long way off, and no one knows if LAUSD will even be fully open during next school year.
I would focus on getting her enrolled in kindergarten and seeing if PRCS is a good fit for your child before you worry about Balboa or any other school.
There are plenty of fantastic schools in Porter Ranch, Northridge, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, etc. But at this point, see what the kindergarten experience will be, and hopefully by then the schools have reopened.
Thank you soooo much for your quick reply!
Hello! I have a question for my soon-to-be Kindergartener. In Nov 2019, we applied through eChoices and got waitlisted, so expect to get 4 waitlist points for next year. Now, I am thinking about submitting a late application for an affiliated charter for her to attend in Kindergarten. That is also done through the eChoices website. If I submit that late application for an affiliated charter, is it possible to lose the waitlist points from the regular eChoices process (either if admitted to the affiliated charter, or by submitting the application)? Thank you in advance!
You could still be called as late as four weeks into next year for the magnet. As far as I’m aware, you could still be on the waitlist for the magnet and no points would be lost (you technically haven’t earned them until *next* year because they can call you in the fall OR spring semester with openings), but please contact downtown for official language on this. And given how fluid everything is right now, please be aware there is nothing “normal” or “usual” about anything this year.
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Hi, Lots of confusion related to science academy. The school says you should only choose them as your one and only magnet. They say if you put a second choice, if you qualify by their testing, but don’t get in the first round, you won’t be placed on their waiting list, even if your second choice is also full.
Any insight as to if this is accurate?
You will probably want to post this in the 2021-22 magnet season post so that people will see it. And yes, you should never place a second choice if you want to wait it out only for the first school. While I’m not sure if the “even if your second choice is also full” is correct, I’d be worried that the second choice would not be full, and there is no wait list for the first choice if you accidentally get into the first one. I am firmly against suggesting anyone selecting a second choice unless the second choice is equally acceptable.