Enrollment

Lottery Information

TO PLACE YOUR KINDER STUDENT IN OUR LOTTERY

• WE ARE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2025/26 KINDERGARTEN LOTTERY ENROLLMENT PERIOD STARTING JANUARY 10TH.

• WE ARE ACCEPTING WAIT LIST APPLICATIONS FOR CURRENT GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 5TH

SEQUOIA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - Lottery for Kindergarten

5 Years Old By:             K  Lottery Enrollment Period           K  Start Year                     

Sept 1, 2025                  Jan 10, 2024  –  Nov 13, 2024               2025/26

Sept 1, 2026                  Jan 8, 2025   -   Nov 12, 2025                2026/27

Sept 1, 2027                  Jan 11, 2026   -   Nov 11, 2026                2027/28

Sept 1, 2028                  Jan 11, 2027   -   Nov 09, 2027              2028/29

We will begin accepting applications for the Kindergarten Lottery for 2025/26 from JANUARY 10, 2024 until NOVEMBER 13, 2024 at 3PM

Please send all of the required documents via email attachment to Toni Shay, Sequoia Elementary School Office Manager at this email address:  shayt@mdusd.org. 

All email attachments must include:

• Parent’s photo ID
• Two of the following (must be from 2 different categories ):
  • Correspondence from a government agency
    • Car Registration
    • Tax Return
  • Voter registration
  • Pay stub
  • Utility service contract, statement, or payment receipt (PG&E, Water or Garbage only)
  • Rental property contract, lease, or payment receipt
  • Property tax bill
• The student’s birth certificate or passport 
• 2 current phone numbers  
• If your student is currently in Kindergarten through 5th grade, be sure to include their CURRENT grade.
• if you have any other students on wait lists with Sequoia Elementary, please note that, as well.  

When we receive your paperwork, we will complete a Request for Placement form and email it back to you for your signature, and then you will send it back to us, as the last step.  Applications are accepted daily, however we process all paperwork weekly on Wednesdays. Due to high volume we will process them as soon as we can. Please do not contact the office for status.  We will email you once we process the paperwork.

• Children must be five years of age on or before September 1st of the year they start Kindergarten. 
• To be placed in the Kindergarten Lottery, parents must sign up their student(s) within the designated time between January and November in the year prior to starting Kindergarten.
• This includes siblings of students currently attending Sequoia.  Please follow the instructions shown above.

We do not keep your original documents - we only review them.

The Sequoia Kindergarten Lottery is held each year in December for children who will start Kindergarten the following August. Subject to the priorities described below, all students who sign up between the designated dates between January and November will be randomly assigned a lottery number and the available Kindergarten spaces will be filled in lottery number order. The lottery number also dictates a student’s placement on the wait list for future openings in Kindergarten through 5^th grade. Twins will be given consecutive lottery numbers. If there is only one space available, one space will be offered. If that space is declined, twins will remain on the wait list and be offered the first opportunity to attend our program when two spaces are available. Students who are not in a priority category and who sign up after the Kindergarten lottery after the deadline in November will be placed at the end of the wait list.

Lottery Notification

Written confirmation of students selected is mailed home before Winter Break in December.

Priority for Kindergarten

The Kindergarten Lottery provides priority, according to Board Policy, for siblings of current Sequoia students and children of employees working 10 hours or more per week at Sequoia Elementary School. The following criteria must be met in order for an incoming Kindergartener to have priority:

• A Kindergarten student must attend Sequoia Elementary with their older sibling for a minimum of one year. It is the responsibility of the parents to notify the office of any sibling relationships.
• Parent/Guardian is an employee of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District assigned to Sequoia Elementary, and currently working 10 hours or more per week.

Translation Services provided if needed.

Servicios de traducción se proporcionan según sea necesario.

Grade Placement

Based on School Board Policy and California Education Code, a child shall be eligible for enrollment in Kindergarten if the child will have his/her fifth birthday on or before September 1. A student who does not meet the age eligibility criteria may not be enrolled in Kindergarten.  

• A child shall be eligible for enrollment in Transitional Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if the child will have his/her fifth birthday between the following dates:  September 2 and February 2. Sequoia Elementary School does not offer a Transitional Kindergarten Program.
• A child shall be admitted to first grade if the child will have his/her sixth birthday on or before September 1st.

Call our office if you have questions about these procedures: (925) 935-5721

WAIT LISTS FOR CURRENT GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 5TH

Please send all of the required documents via email attachment to Toni Shay, Sequoia Elementary Secretary, at this email address: shayt@mdusd.org.  All email attachments must include: parent’s photo ID, 2 proofs of residency (be sure to review the list of acceptable documents), and the student’s birth certificate or passport.  If your student is currently in Kindergarten through 5th grade, be sure to include their CURRENT grade.  Please give a phone number to reach you, and if you have any other students on wait lists with Sequoia Elementary, please note that, as well.  

When we receive your paperwork, we will complete a Request for Placement form and email it back to you for you to review and sign, and then you will send it back to us, as the last step.

1. The number of openings each year may change depending upon the              number of student retentions, program changes, mobility, or             sibling/employee priority list.
2. You will be contacted for enrollment when a space becomes available. If the  school  cannot reach you or you no longer reside in the MDUSD boundaries, your place will  not be held. Inform the school office of any changes in your phone number, address, movement out of the district, or change of plans to attend our program.
3. If you are called to enroll and decline or you no longer reside in the MDUSD    boundaries, your child's name will be removed from the wait list. Should you decide to put your child's name back on the list, you must fill out a new request for placement.
4. All classes will be filled by the last workday in August before the first day of school. All forms, immunizations, birth certificate, proof of residency, etc. must be verified at the time of enrollment.

"Sibling Priority"

"Sibling Priority" lists exist with the purpose of reuniting a currently enrolled Sequoia Elementary students with their waitlisted sibling so they can attend the same school.  It is the responsibility of the parents to notify the office of any sibling relationships.  There is no sibling priority for students who attend Sequoia Middle School.

KINDERGARTEN: The following criteria must be met in order for a child to be identified as a sibling on the Kindergarten sibling priority list:

• Student must attend Sequoia Elementary with their older sibling for a minimum of one year.
• Student must be put on the sibling priority waiting list the year of their fourth birthday within the enrollment period.
• It is the responsibility of the parents to notify the office of any sibling relationships.

GRADES 1 - 5:  The following criteria must be met in order for a child to be identified as a sibling on the Grades 1 - 5 sibling priority list: 

• A waitlisted sibling in grades 1 - 5 can not be enrolled until a spot in their grade level opens up.
• It is the responsibility of the parents to notify the office of any sibling relationships.
• Student must attend Sequoia Elementary with their sibling for a minimum of one year.

Call our office if you have questions about these procedures: (925) 935-5721.