Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Enrollment
Topics in this section:
- How do I enroll my student?
- Providing documentation to verify my student’s age
- Can I submit these documents on a smart phone?
- Why do I need to upload my documents to the portal?
- Residency Documents
- How to Obtain Common Utility Bills
- Which school will my students attend?
- Can I select any grade for my student?
- What happens after I submit my student(s) enrollment documents?
- Where can I find the district calendar?
- May I request a particular teacher for my elementary student?
- How do my middle and high school students select their classes?
- Where can I find out what school supplies are needed?
- How do I find out about the bus service?
- What do I need to do if we move?
- My students do not speak English, what will BSD (Bellevue School District) do to support them?
How do I enroll my student?
Follow our enrollment steps to access the documents needed to enroll and establish residency.
If any required documents are missing it will delay the enrollment of your student, so be sure you have verified that everything is complete.
Providing documentation to verify my student’s age
Bellevue School District will accept any one of a variety of documents for purposes of verifying a student’s age, including but not limited to a birth certificate, passport, a Department of Social and Health Services [DSHS] Medicaid voucher, an entry in a family bible, an adoption record, an affidavit from a parent, a previously verified school record, or any other document permitted by law.
Can I submit these documents on a smart phone?
Using a smart phone complicates the current enrollment process because it is not mobile friendly.
If you do not have access to a computer or tablet, you can:
- Reserve a computer at the Bellevue Public Library
- When schools are open, you can go into the school to use a kiosk
- If you already have a student enrolled in BSD, you can use their computer
- You can come into the district offices to use a computer. Please email studentplacement@bsd405.org or call 425-456-4200 to schedule an appointment.
Why do I need to upload my documents to the portal?
Regular email is not secure; to protect your student’s sensitive information, please use the secure portal to submit their enrollment documents.
Residency Documents
Are You Unable to Provide any Residency Documents?
The enrollment process cannot be started until all student residency documents have been received. It may not be possible for you to provide the requested documents please review the reasons below, if they don’t apply please contact SPResidency@bsd405.org.
In temporary corporate housing
- Upload your housing confirmation from your employer.
- We will have you sign a temporary residency agreement that will allow you time to find housing and will allow enrollment to proceed. When you secure housing, we will have you begin the residency process.
Experiencing housing instability
Families who are not able to establish their residency or do not have a verifiable address because their living situation is temporary due to loss of housing, economic hardship, are fleeing violence, have experienced a housing disaster (fire, flood, etc.) or are temporarily staying with another family because of these reasons may qualify for McKinney-Vento services.
- If you think you qualify for these services, please upload the enrollment packet and the residency verification form from Step 1. And then go right to Step 4.
- If you have other applicable documents (immunization form, birth certificate for grades kindergarten and 1, transcript, report card) please upload them as well. If your student qualifies for McKinney-Vento services, enrollment will not be delayed if you do not have these items.
If you need additional help, please reach out to McKinneyFoster@bsd405.org or 425-456-4287.
How To Obtain Common Utility Bills
In some circumstances you may also be asked to provide a copy of your most recent utility bill.
Tip to get PSE (Puget Sound Energy) bills:
- Sign in or create an account at pse.com.
- Select Payment history in the bar under your name and address
- Select the Bill PDF for the 2 most recent months bills
- Download these to your computer and save them in the same location as your enrollment documents
- Upload them with your other documents
- Make sure your mailing and service address match!
Tip to get Xfinity bills:
- Sign in to Comcast.com
- Hover over your name in the upper right corner and select View My Bill
- Select View Bill History on the right-hand side of the page
- Select View PDF for the 2 most recent bills
- Download the bill to your computer and save it in the same location as your enrollment documents
- Upload them with your other documents
Which school will my students attend?
Students in the District are assigned to an attendance area school based on their home address. Visit our Find Your School page to find your assigned school.
You are guaranteed enrollment at your attendance area school. Please note that our choice schools will also be shown on this list. You need to be approved, in advance, to join these schools.
Can I select any grade for my student?
The Bellevue School District does not hold back students, so your student needs to continue in the progress of education. If you are coming from a country that has a different school year than we do, grade placement may depend on the time of year you are enrolling. Please reach out to studentplacement@bsd405.org and include your student’s current grade, the country they are currently enrolled in, and the school year for that country. We will help you determine appropriate grade placement. Final grade placement is determined by the school principal.
In Washington, a student must be 5 on or before August 31 of the year they begin kindergarten and 6 on or before August 31 of the year they begin 1st grade. Students who are 5 by October 31, may participate in an early entrance to kindergarten assessment. Please visit the Early Entrance to Kindergarten page for more information.
Students who turn 6 after August 31 and have been attending a state approved public or private kindergarten whose standards equal or exceed the 1000 hours of instruction provided under the direct supervision of a certificated teacher, including curriculum and instruction in reading, mathematics and communication skills designed to meet the State grade level expectations and essential academic learning requirements may have the kindergarten complete a Certification of Qualified Kindergarten Attendance form (PDF). This form should be completed toward the end of the school year and uploaded with other enrollment documents.
Students who have graduated from another school may not enroll in high school.
What happens after I submit my student(s) enrollment documents?
Once your enrollment documents have been submitted there are several steps before your student will be enrolled; this process may take several days. Students whose families wait too late in August to submit enrollment documents may not be enrolled in time for the first day of school.
Step 1, a residency specialist will review the Residency documents submitted to confirm that:
- The Residency Verification Form is complete, with parent signature (you do not need to print the form to sign it; you just need to type your name in the signature field).
- The required residency documents listed above have been included.
If the required residency documents have not been included in your submission, you will be contacted by a residency specialist from the following email address: SPResidency@bsd405.org. Once residency has been confirmed the enrollment process for your student will move forward.
Step 2, the school registrar, or office manager will enroll your student:
If the enrollment packet is incomplete or additional information is needed you will be contacted by the school.
Note: If enrollment occurs during summer enrollment when schools are closed, a summer registrar will be contacting you.
When your student’s enrollment is complete you will be contacted by the school.
Additional things to consider:
- If you are enrolling for the current school year, while school is in session, your student’s enrollment will be prioritized so that we can get your student into school as soon as possible.
- If you are enrolling for the next school year, we will prioritize the enrollment of kindergarten (because we need the counts to ensure we have enough teachers) and secondary students (because we want them to be included in the spring class selection process).
Where can I find the district calendar?
May I request a particular teacher for my elementary student?
Parents may not request a particular elementary teacher. For the current school year, your school will notify you of your student’s teacher assignment after your student is enrolled. For the upcoming school year, teachers are assigned in late August and your school will notify you of your student’s teacher assignment.
How do my middle and high school students select their classes?
For the current school year, your student’s counselor will reach out to you when enrollment is complete.
For the next school year, if your enrollment is done early enough in the spring, your student will be included in class selection in the spring. If your enrollment is too late for that process, your student’s counselor will reach out to you in late August, just before school starts. Please be sure to upload your student’s report card or transcript to help in this process. Your student will get all their required classes to keep them on track for graduation. You can see the curriculum and course catalog on the Course Catalog page.
Where can I find out what school supplies are needed?
You can search for school supplies using the search feature on the District website.
How do I find out about the bus service?
Bus transportation is provided to students who live outside the one (1) mile walk boundary. Elementary and middle school students are serviced by the yellow school buses and high school students outside the walking boundary are provided with an Orca card so that they may use public transportation.
To see if your address qualifies for transportation, please enter your address into the Edulog WebQuery Portal. If your student is eligible for bus service, it will say Eligible. Then click on the school to find out the bus stop information. Please note that our choice schools will also be shown on this list. You need to be approved, in advance, to join these schools. For more information about transportation, please visit our Transportation page.
What do I need to do if we move?
If you move, please submit a Change of Address form to SPResidency@bsd405.org To ensure we have the most up-to-date information for students in the event of an emergency, addresses need to be updated within 5 days of a move. Be sure to include a signed lease agreement or a settlement statement if you just purchased a home.
My students do not speak English, what will BSD (Bellevue School District) do to support them?
We understand it may worry you to send your student to a school where they will not understand what is being said. Please know that in our schools, over 40% of our students speak a first language other than English and 16% are receiving English language support.
If you listed a language other than English on the Home Language Survey form (part of the enrollment packet) after your student is enrolled, their English skills will be assessed so that they may receive the appropriate level of support, please do not have them study for this assessment.