Enrollment Frequently Asked Questions

Current, returning or previously enrolled families:

Do you have a student that is currently enrolled, and you want to enroll another student?

• Have you ever had a student enrolled in Bellevue School District?

• Are you enrolling a student that was previously enrolled in Bellevue School District?
• Has your child ever received Birth to Two or Early Intervention program services?
• Has your child EVER been evaluated in a special program within Bellevue School District?

If you answered YES to any of the above questions, you may have an existing record with Bellevue School District and you may need to activate your ParentVUE account to start online enrollment. If you don’t remember your login information, please contact ParentHelp@bsd405.org

Families who have or had a student enrolled in BSD already have a ParentVUE account created with family relationships established. If these families create a new ParentVUE account, their newly enrolling students will not be associated as siblings in our student information system. You will have multiple ParentVUE accounts and will not be able to see all your students when you log in. Please use your existing ParentVUE account when enrolling a new student. If you don’t remember your login information, please contact ParentHelp@bsd405.org. If you don’t remember your password, use the forgot password option.

New families:

Families who have never enrolled a student in Bellevue School District will need to create a NEW ParentVUE account. If you have other students currently or previously enrolled in the district, please see the question titled "Do I have a ParentVUE account?"

Please visit our ParentVUE webpage for step by step instructions on how to create a ParentVUE account.

No all enrollment submissions go to the “school” Student Placement. Student Placement reviews the enrollment submission and documents provided. If the enrollment submission is complete, Student Placement “denies” it (this can be confusing) and pushes the enrollment to the actual school to complete the enrollment process.

Here is a screenshot of an enrollment pushed to Enatai from Student Placement:

Enrollment for the upcoming fall school year typically opens the beginning of March. Students must be physically living in the Bellevue School District boundaries or be approved to attend one of our schools in order to enroll.

We ask that new families, especially enrolling kindergarteners, enroll in March for the upcoming school year. This will give us the best information to ensure we have the correct number of teachers to keep classrooms as small as possible.

YES.  School attendance is critical at all grade levels, even kindergarten!  Students who miss school are missing out on valuable education that is the foundation for all learning to come later.

• Attending school on-time, all day, every day will give your child the best chance of graduating from high school.
• Starting in kindergarten, missing just 2 days a month, whether excused or unexcused, makes it more likely that your child will not meet academic standards in math and reading by third grade.
• By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.
• Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with schoolwork, dealing with a bully situation, or facing some other potentially serious difficulty.
• By 9th grade, regular attendance is a better predictor of high school graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.

If we are enrolling students for only one school year, your student should be able to start school within a couple of days of the time we receive all the necessary documents.

During the spring when we begin enrolling students for the upcoming school year, we first focus on getting students into school for the current school year and then move to enrolling students for the next school year. Our goal is to process secondary (middle and high school) enrollments for the next year as quickly as possible so that new students may be included in course selection for the upcoming school year.

If you are enrolling for the next school year and your family may qualify for McKinney-Vento Services (for families experiencing homelessness and housing instability) your students will not be enrolled until August, right before the start of the school year. We are required by law to qualify families for McKinney-Vento Services each year in August so enrollment will be delayed.

New students enrolling for next year who have not been enrolled by the end of the current school year, will be enrolled over the summer prior to the start of the next school year. Secondary students enrolled over the summer will hear from their schools just before the start of the new school year for class selection. Elementary students will be sent teacher information and information on back-to-school events prior to the start of the school year.

Students must enroll in the school district in which they reside unless they have applied to and been accepted to a different school district. Establishing residency proves that the student is residing in the boundaries of the Bellevue School District and tells us which school the student should be enrolled in as addresses are assigned to specific schools. You can verify what school your address is assigned to by entering your address on the Edulog Parent Portal.

Students will not be enrolled without required documents. You can significantly speed up with process by uploading the required documents during the enrollment process. Although you are given the opportunity to hand deliver documents to Student Placement, this will slow down the process significantly. Additionally, ensure that you are providing the correct documents:

• A copy of your current PSE bill and the following as it applies:
  • Renters:  a fully signed (signed by you and the property owner), current lease agreement
  • Homeowners:  a copy of your homeowner’s insurance policy declaration page

See the questions below for information on how to download your PSE bill. If you do not yet have a PSE bill, please attach your start of service letter.

If you are a nonresident student and would like to enroll, please be sure to apply first and then follow the instructions provided by Student Placement.

• Nonresident students who have been accepted to the Bellevue School District do not need to provide residency documents. Instead, during the enrollment process, select the “I will deliver a copy…” option when asked to upload residency documents. Then, upload a copy of the confirmation email you receive after you submit the choice transfer request in the field titled “Choice Transfer Confirmation.”

All families enrolling as residents of the Bellevue School District must provide residency documents in order to enroll. The enrollment process cannot be started until all residency documents have been received. Listed below are (3) reasons why it may not be possible for you to submit the requested documents:

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.

Washington State Address Confidentiality Program

An official letter from the Address Confidentiality Program stating the attendance area school fulfills the requirement to establish residency.

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 your family is experiencing housing instability, please go ahead and apply without uploading residency documents. During enrollment, select the “I will deliver a copy….” option and our McKinney-Vento coordinator will contact you.
• If your student qualifies for McKinney-Vento services, enrollment will not be delayed for the current school year.
• If you do not qualify for McKinney-Vento, you will need to provide residency documents.

If you need additional help, please reach out to McKinneyFoster@bsd405.org or 425-456-4287.

1. Sign in or create an account at pse.com.
2. Select Payment history in the bar under your name and address.
3. Select the Bill PDF for your most recent bill.
4. Make sure your mailing and service address match!
5. Download it to your computer.
6. Upload it as one of your residency documents.

By Washington state law, students enroll in the school district in which they are residents – meaning where they live the majority of the time. Therefore, if you are living in a different school district, that is where you should enroll.

If you are interested in enrolling in the Bellevue School District, we encourage you to submit a nonresident student application. Many of our schools accept nonresident students. To apply as a nonresident student, please visit Transfer Into the Bellevue School District  webpage on the BSD website.

In Washington state, all education related taxes sent to the state are placed in a “bucket” and sent out to school districts across the state. Your taxes dollars do not stay in Bellevue. If you own a home in Bellevue but live in a different school district, we encourage you to submit a nonresident student application.  Many of our schools accept nonresident students.  To apply, please visit Transfer Into the Bellevue School District  webpage on the BSD website.

Residency in the Bellevue School District must be established to enroll your student, when enrolling please submit the following documents.

• A copy of your current PSE bill and the following as it applies:

• • Renters: a fully signed (signed by you and the property owner), current lease agreement
  • Homeowners: a copy of your homeowner’s insurance policy declaration page

  Revisit the Establishing Residency section of the FAQs for information on how to download your PSE bill.

• Proof of medically verified immunizations is required for all newly enrolling students.
• You will be asked to upload these documents during the enrollment process.
• If you do not have medically verified immunizations, during the enrollment process, you may select that you will deliver the immunizations after your student is enrolled.
• For more information on immunizations and other health forms, please visit the Required Health Forms webpage.

We also use the School Module, an online system provided by the Washington State Department of Health. For more information, visit our School Module for Immunization Records page. You will be asked to opt in to the School Module during enrollment.

• Report card from previous school (grades 6-12 only)
• Unofficial high school transcript (grades 9-12)

IEP, IEP Evaluation, 504, IHP 

• IEP, IEP Evaluation, 504, and IHP documents help us ensure your student receives the services they need when they begin school. If this information is received later, these students may also need to change classes.
• Support for Native American Students (Title VI Program) Form for students who will select Native American Indian in the Race and Ethnicity section during the enrollment process

Parenting plan, restraining order, etc.

• Parenting Plan and Restraining Orders are helpful to ensure we know of the legally established guidelines.

There is an option to drop off documents in person but that will delay your enrollment, which will not proceed until we have the documents. So, please upload them during the enrollment process. The easiest thing to do is to have PDFs of the various required documents saved and ready to upload during enrollment.

You may drop off your documents in person at the Student Placement Office (12011 NE 1st St, Suite 210, Bellevue, WA 98005) or you may email them to SPResidency@bsd405.org. Be sure to include why you are sending us the documents and the name(s) of your student(s).

No. The Bellevue School District does not ask for nor verify the immigration status of our students.

However, please be aware that we do not accept students on F1 Visas as we do not participate in the Federal I-20 reporting program. Additionally, we recommend that students who are visiting the United States on either a temporary or tourist visa (B1 or B2) not enroll in school. Doing so may violate the terms of the visa and result in the visa holder being permanently denied a visa to return to the United States in the future. We recommend that students on a B1 or B2 visa speak with an immigration attorney prior to enrolling in school.

Have additional questions? Visit the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website.

If you would like your student to attend a different school than their assigned neighborhood (attendance area) school the first step is to submit an application.

To apply for the upcoming school year, please submit your application during the Open Transfer and Choice School/Program application period which is open December/January prior to the requested school year. The application will be available on the district website.

Open Transfer applications: Submit an Open Transfer Application

The Open Transfer application period is for applicants who will be in grades kindergarten through 12 in the upcoming school year to request a different neighborhood school than their assigned attendance area school.

Applicants may apply for only one neighborhood (attendance area) school:

• Elementary: Ardmore, Bennett, Cherry Crest, Clyde Hill, Enatai, Lake Hills, Medina, Newport Heights, Phantom Lake, Sherwood Forest, Somerset, Spiritridge, Stevenson, Woodridge
• Middle: Chinook, Highland, Odle, Tillicum, Tyee
• High: Bellevue, Interlake, Newport, Sammamish

Students will be placed in a lottery and offered a spot depending on space at the school. Nonresident applicants will be placed at the bottom of the resident list in the order received, priority is given to resident students. After the application period closes, students may still apply and will be placed on the wait list in the order they apply. For more information, please see Procedure 3120.1P Attendance Area Transfers.

Choice School applications: Apply to a Choice School or Program

The Choice School application period is for incoming kindergarten or 6th grade entry, exceptions are listed below. All grade levels may apply to the waitlist after the incoming application period closes.

Resident students and children of eligible BSD employees may apply for the following:

• Kindergarten entry language programs – apply to one or all schools/programs – Arabic Language Program (Ardmore), Hindi Language Program (location to be determined), Korean Language Program (location to be determined), Jing Mei (Mandarin dual language), Puesta del Sol (Spanish Immersion), Spanish Dual Language Program (Lake Hills, Sherwood Forest, or Stevenson)
• 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd grade entry – Arabic Language Program (Ardmore)
• 6^th grade entry – apply to one or both schools – Big Picture, International School

Nonresident students may apply for the following:

• Kindergarten entry language programs – Arabic Language Program (Ardmore), Hindi Language Program (Ardmore), Korean Language Program (Newport Heights), Puesta del Sol (Spanish Immersion), Spanish Dual Language Program (Lake Hills, Sherwood Forest, or Stevenson)
• 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd grade entry – Arabic Language Program (Ardmore)
• 6^th grade entry – Big Picture

Yes. Half day kindergarten is an option in the Bellevue School District. Half day kindergarten students come for the start of school and leave before lunch. Kindergarten is the basis for all education that follows and students who miss the afternoon may miss critical building blocks. If you do choose to attend half day kindergarten, let your school know when you receive confirmation your student is enrolled.

Out of a cohort of about 1200 kindergarteners, in typical school year, we have 2-4 kindergarteners attending half day and the vast majority of these students are in full day kindergarten by winter break. This is because the students attending half day miss out on all instruction that occurs in the afternoon.

Entry into these programs is through application and lottery, the winter before your student begins kindergarten.

• Mandarin Dual Language Program – Jing Mei Elementary School
• Spanish Immersion Program (ISA) – Puesta del Sol Elementary School
• Spanish Dual Language Program – This program is available at Lake Hills, Sherwood Forest and Stevenson Elementary Schools

Heritage Language Program

• Arabic Language Program – Ardmore Elementary School
• Hindi Language Program – Ardmore Elementary School
• Korean Language Program – Newport Heights Elementary School

Eligible employees must work for the Bellevue School District (not just in Bellevue…their employer must be the Bellevue School District). Substitutes are not eligible employees. Eligible employees are defined as:

• Classified employees who work 16 hours per week or more for a minimum of 180 days
• Certificated employees who are a 0.4 FTE or greater

Students who are the children of eligible nonresident employees of the Bellevue School District must still apply but they will be treated as resident students. The children of eligible nonresident employees will apply through Open Transfer and may apply to all Choice Schools/Programs.

Students must enroll in their attendance area school and submit the forms below,

• Home school students submit a Declaration of Intent to Homeschool form each school year and a Request for Part-Time Attendance form listing the services they wish.
• Private school students must submit a Request for Part-Time Attendance form; any items they request must not be available through their private school.

These forms need to be sent to StudentPlacement@BSD405.org

Applicants may apply for only one neighborhood (attendance area) school:

• Elementary: Ardmore, Bennett, Cherry Crest, Clyde Hill, Enatai, Lake Hills, Medina, Newport Heights, Phantom Lake, Sherwood Forest, Somerset, Spiritridge, Stevenson, Woodridge
• Middle: Chinook, Highland, Odle, Tillicum, Tyee
• High: Bellevue, Interlake, Newport, Sammamish

You will be able to indicate whether you are interested in other schools if space is available. If space becomes available at the requested school and we are able to place nonresident students, we will contact you with a placement offer. If space is not available at the requested school in your students grade level we may contact you about other schools that have capacity.

Thank you for your patience as we go through this process. We will contact you as quickly as possible but please know it may not be until around the start of school until we contact you.

Nonresident students may apply for the following choice school/programs:

• Kindergarten entry language programs – Arabic Language Program (Ardmore), Hindi Language Program (location to be determined), Korean Language Program (location to be determined), Puesta del Sol (Spanish Immersion), Spanish Dual Language Program (Lake Hills, Sherwood Forest, or Stevenson)
• 1^st , 2^nd or 3rd grade entry – Arabic Language Program (Ardmore)
• 6^th grade entry – Big Picture

Yes this is required each year, you must submit a Choice Transfer Request to the school district where you live, even if your student has never attended school in your resident school district.

Student Placement will email a reminder in January to renew your CTR for the upcoming school year. Please wait to submit the Choice Transfer until Student Placement asks for it as this helps create efficiencies. And thank you in advance for submitting it as soon as you are asked. Students who do not submit the Choice Transfer each year will be withdrawn.

The process takes a few days to complete. Residency must first be established by Student Placement and then the enrollment is moved to the appropriate school to complete the process.

Students will not be enrolled without the required documents. You can significantly speed up with process by uploading the required documents during the enrollment process. Although you are given the opportunity to hand deliver documents to Student Placement, this will slow down the process significantly.

Additionally, ensure that you are providing the correct documents. All resident families need to provide a copy of their most recent PSE bill – make sure the mailing and service address matches. Renters need to provide a copy of their signed lease agreement – make sure it is signed by both you and the landlord. Homeowner’s need to provide a copy of their Homeowner’s Insurance Policy Declarations page – make sure your mailing and insured addresses match.

If you have students attending different schools, please be aware that your students may not start school on the same day (other than the first day of school in the fall). This is because each school needs to process your students’ enrollment and there may be a different timing for each.

If your enrollment is completed 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 webpage.

Also, be sure to check your school’s website for information on back to school events.

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. Middle and high school students are provided with an ORCA card so that they may use public transportation. Middle school students may request an ORCA card in their school office; high school students may pick it up at their school’s Taking Care of Business Day.   Students who enroll after their Taking Care of Business Day may pick up their ORCA card in the school office.

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. If your student is in the Advanced Learning program, select 2 under Program and if they are in the Spanish Dual Language program or a Heritage Language program, select 4 under Program.

• To see if your student is eligible for bus transportation and to find bus stop locations, visit the Bus Routes Information webpage.
• Students eligible for bus transportation will be mailed their stop information by mid-August prior to the start of school. Kindergarten through 3rd graders will be mailed a wristband. If you have not received these items by a week before the start of school, please email transportation@bsd405.org. Be sure to include your student’s name, ID and school.
• Students who enroll after August:
  • May pick up wristbands from their school office (kindergarten through 3rd grade)
  • May look up their bus eligibility and bus stop locations on the Bus Routes Information webpage
• Middle school students who would like an ORCA card may pick one up at their school office after the start of the school year.
• High school and choice school (International and Big Picture) students will be provided with a public transportation card (ORCA card) at their school’s Taking Care of Business Day. Students who enroll after their Taking Care of Business Day may pick up their ORCA card in the school office.

If you have additional Transportation questions, our Transportation Department will be happy to assist you with any questions regarding bus service after your student is enrolled. Visit the Transportation webpage.

Great question! Because it is critical that we know where our students live should there be an emergency, address updates are required within 5 days of a move. Please log into your ParentVUE account and select Enrollment/Verification in the upper right corner of the screen. On the next page, select Online Student Data Verification. You will be able to update your address and provide the necessary documents to establish residency.

If you have moved within the boundaries of the Bellevue School District please upload these documents:

• A copy of your current PSE bill (if you do not yet have a PSE bill, you may provide a copy of the PSE Start of Service letter) and the following as it applies:
  • Renters:  a fully signed (signed by you and the property owner), current lease agreement
  • Homeowners:  a copy of your homeowner’s insurance policy declaration page

If you have moved outside the boundaries of the Bellevue School District, please upload your recent PSE bill (or copy of the PSE Start of Service letter) and a completed Interdistrict Transfer Application when asked for residency documents.

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 as the first language your student learned and/or primary language spoken at home during the enrollment process, your student will be assessed for their English skills after they are enrolled so that they may receive the appropriate level of support.  Please do not have them study for this assessment so that we are able to provide the appropriate level of support.

Visit the Nutrition Services webpage for all nutrition information, including the School Meal Benefit Application (Free & Reduced Price Meals).

During a traditional school year, students returning to a school in the Bellevue School District start the first 30 days of the school year retaining their prior year’s eligibility for free or reduced priced meal benefits. Families are encouraged during this initial time period to submit an application for the current year for processing. Families who do not have a current year application for their student processed during the first 30 school days will “rollover” to the paid status on the 31st school day which is typically mid-October. Families are responsible for the cost of meals provided to a student prior to eligibility for free or reduced priced meals being established.

If your student is attending Lake Hills, Sherwood Forest, or Stevenson Elementary Schools for the 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 or 2026-27 school years, breakfast and lunch are provided at no charge thanks to a federal program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). You do not need to apply for Free and Reduced Price Meals unless you have other students in the district who are attending different schools. More information can be found on the Nutrition Services Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

If your student already has an IEP, be sure to upload the most recent copy during the enrollment process.

If you feel your student needs services, please visit the Special Education webpage.

Preschool information is available on the Preschool webpage. Preschool fills up quickly so be sure to apply early (applications typically open in March for the upcoming school year). You may attend any preschool you wish but please know that, just because your student attended a specific preschool, if that school is not assigned to your address, it is not your school for kindergarten.  Students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend the schools assigned to their address unless they have applied to and been approved to attend a different school.

If your student is in elementary school, please contact the office manager; if in middle or high school, please contact the registrar. Student Placement can help connect you with schools if you do not have their contact information.

If you are withdrawing while schools are closed (for instance in the summer) please email StudentPlacement@bsd405.org. Be sure to include your student(s) name(s), ID and schools.

For questions about Final Forms, please reach out to our Athletics and Activities department.