SF Families Learn School Assignments as SFUSD Lottery Hits Record Predictability

Across San Francisco, roughly 15,000 families opened district emails and SFUSD app notifications on March 16 to find out which schools their children will attend next fall, completing the district's annual Main Round lottery for students entering kindergarten, transitioning to middle school, and moving from middle to high school.

SFUSD reported that 69% of families received their first-choice school and 96% were matched with one of their top choices, a figure the district called the highest on record and a notable jump from 85% in 2018. Transitional kindergarten drew particular attention: TK assignments rose by 271 students compared to last year, reflecting what the district described as a nearly 15% surge in TK applications after years of declining enrollment.

"So we really want to be able to respond to what we've heard from families about what's important to them when they enroll their children in schools, so we've made it much simpler and easier for families to navigate the system," said SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnick.

This is the second year SFUSD has operated its simplified waitlist process, which allows families to submit a single Main Round application and remain on up to three school waitlists without reapplying. The district reported that the same process yielded nearly 600 additional enrollments during the 2025-26 school year. Families who want a different placement can stay on those waitlists; SFUSD will make weekly offers starting April 20, 2026 through September 4, 2026.

For parents, the stakes are acutely personal. Emily De Ayora of the San Francisco Parent Coalition, who has navigated the lottery three times across her own children, described the experience plainly: "I understand how challenging it can be and how fraught it can feel. Every family has different priorities. For my family, geographic location was one of the most important things. We walked to school, and that was something that we really wanted."

The district's celebratory framing sits alongside a more complicated policy backdrop. SFUSD developed its school choice system to preserve diversity while giving families flexibility, but a 2016 evaluation by district officials and outside researchers concluded the system had actually exacerbated the inequities it was designed to address. In 2018, leadership began exploring a replacement. After two years of community meetings and policy simulations run with Stanford University researchers, the district settled in 2020 on a geographic zone model that would guarantee families a school close to home. That plan has yet to launch, stalled by what the San Francisco Standard described as a revolving door of district leadership, with no new implementation timeline announced.

Competition remains uneven within the current system. While the district's overall top-choice match rate climbed, specialized programs and schools outside a family's neighborhood draw the fiercest competition, and far fewer families secure those placements. Some parents navigating this year's lottery said they are considering leaving SFUSD entirely if their preferred school does not come through.

Families who received an assignment on March 16 must accept or decline by March 26 at sfusd.edu/mainround or by contacting the Enrollment Center directly. The Enrollment Center is hosting virtual workshops on March 19 and March 21 to walk families through the acceptance and waitlist process; details are at sfusd.edu/workshops. Campus tours and parent meetings can be scheduled at sfusd.edu/tours. Families who have not yet applied for the 2026-27 school year can still do so at sfusd.edu/apply.