With only four business days left for parents to request a
transfer of their high school students to Christopher High School,
more than 125 applications have been submitted, according to the
school district.
With only four business days left for parents to request a transfer of their high school students to Christopher High School, more than 125 applications have been submitted, according to the school district.
Superintendent Deborah Flores stressed that the number – which could prompt a lottery for available spots – is preliminary and that after an initial inspection, district officials believe a number of the requests have been made erroneously because some of the applicants already reside within the drawn boundaries for CHS, which will open this August with freshman and sophomore classes.
Still, the number is higher than what the district expected, she acknowledged. Accommodating 75 extra students, in addition to the 550 freshman and sophomores already zoned for CHS, was the original stretch limit.
That may change, however, since the community passed Measure P in November. The district might be able to accelerate the second building phase for the new high school – Gilroy’s second – located at the corner of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Day Road in northwest Gilroy. The school will add juniors in 2010 and seniors in 2011 and, with the addition of another classroom wing in phase two of the school’s construction, will eventually house 1,800 students.
“We’re going to check each application very carefully,” Flores said.
After determining the final numbers, school trustees will get a full report and discuss the options at a meeting in early March.
In the meantime, only half a dozen applications were submitted requesting a transfer to Gilroy High School.
“When a new school opens, it’s pretty typical that people want to go there,” Trustee Denise Apuzzo said. “We’re going to try to accommodate as many people as we can but we can only take as many as the school will hold. We don’t want to open a school and it already be overcrowded.”
Transfer eligibility is based on the following criteria: students wishing to participate in a specific or specialized program offered at only one of the high schools, students attending GHS who wish to remain until they graduate, students living nearest the attendance boundary, children of high school employees, siblings of current students and the classic catch-all – “special circumstances,” which will be heard on an individual basis.
What school do I go to?
Before submitting an application, parents can view the adjoining map or confirm which high school their children are zoned for by visiting the school district’s Web site at www.gusd.k12.ca.us, selecting Enrollment from the Parents and Students tab running along the top of the homepage, clicking on School Finder about half way down the page and entering their home address.
The deadline to submit a transfer request is 4:30 p.m. Feb. 11. Applications must be turned in to the district office at 7810 Arroyo Circle.
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