Transitional Kindergarten

Transitional kindergarten (TK) is an optional grade that bridges the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten years. It is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that has been implemented in California for children who are not old enough yet for kindergarten, but want to build their social, developmental and academic skills.

TK classrooms are taught by a credentialed teacher and the TK curriculum is based on the California Preschool Learning Foundations and the Kindergarten Common Core Standards. 

TK is not mandatory: parents have a choice of whether to enroll their child in TK or not. In SFUSD, all elementary schools accept new students in both TK and Kindergarten. The odds of getting into TK or Kinder vary by school; explore more at sfusd.edu/highlights. 

For the 2026-27 school year, TK is for students who will be turning age 5 between September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2027.

For the 2027-28 school year, TK is for students who will be turning age 5 between September 2, 2027 and September 1, 2027.

View the age requirements by grade on the Enrollment Center webpage. 

All SFUSD elementary and K-8 schools have a TK classroom, except for Alice Fong Yu K-8.

• Most elementary and K-8 schools have a TK classroom onsite. You can see the grades offered at each school on the Directory of Schools. Students who complete TK at an Elementary School will automatically be promoted to Kindergarten at that school. 
• Some elementary and K-8 schools do not have classroom space for TK; those schools have TK at an Early Education School as part of a TK Feeder Pattern. Students who complete TK at an Early Education School will be promoted to a specific school for Kindergarten as part of the TK Feeder system.

If you are interested in learning about specific schools, you can find school information, including school videos, at the Discover SFUSD Schools page or by using the SFUSD School Finder. 

Every family has a TK program for their attendance area. If your attendance area school does not have room to open a TK classroom within the school, you can apply to the TK Feeder Program located at a nearby Early Education school and will receive the Attendance Area tiebreaker.

TK students are automatically promoted to Kindergarten at their same elementary school. If your student attends TK at an Early Education school, the following year they will be promoted to the connected elementary school.

The specific schools served by TK feeders may change year to year

2026-27 TK Feeders

TK uses the same enrollment process as other elementary school grades. Follow the directions sfusd.edu/apply and apply by the Main Round deadline!

How to apply for a TK Feeder

When you apply for TK at an offsite program that is part of a TK feeder pattern, follow these instructions:

• List the TK classroom location as the School you’re applying to
• List the feeder elementary school as the Pathway

For example, Argonne Early Education School’s TK classroom is the feeder to Jefferson Elementary School. 

• Select “Argonne EES” as the School Selection I’m applying to
• Select “Jefferson ES TK Feeder - General Education” as the Pathway
• If I live in Jefferson’s attendance area, I will qualify for the AA tiebreaker

Each combination of School (TK site) and Pathway (feeder pathway to Kindergarten) is a distinct selection on your application. You can apply to multiple feeder pathways at the same TK school.

If you have a student in an SFUSD TK classroom, you do not need to submit an application for Kindergarten unless...

• You wish to change schools for Kindergarten.
• You wish to change programs for Kindergarten, at the same school (e.g. in General Education TK, but want to get into the school's language program that starts in Kindergarten).

If you fit into any of those two categories listed above, submit your Main Round application by the deadline, following directions at sfusd.edu/apply.

If your student is assigned to a different school for Kindergarten in the Main Round, you will lose the Kindergarten spot at your TK school. If we are not able to assign your student to one of their requested programs, they will keep their enrollment at their current school and program. You don't lose your spot because you applied elsewhere - only when you are assigned to another school. Please only list schools that you prefer to your current school if you apply to Kindergarten for your TK student.