Stanford
Cardinal at Work

School-Age Resources

Our office is available to assist you in finding information on local public schools and school-age aftercare programs.

The public school system in California provides free education for children, grades K-12, with school districts assigned by neighborhood of residence. In some school districts, such as Palo Alto, residency documentation is required to enroll. For students coming from other countries or states, checking with the new school district as soon as possible to enroll is recommended, as districts in close proximity to Stanford are often impacted and children may be sent to overflow schools when necessary.

In California, a child must be five years old BEFORE September 1 in order to enroll in kindergarten. Elementary school is kindergarten through 5th grade (ages 5-10), middle school is grades 6-8 (ages 11-13), and high school is grades 9-12 (ages 14-18).

We offer the resources below to assist you with information on local area public schools and aftercare programs.

Before and After School Care

Right at School is a nationally-recognized before and after school program on-site at participating school campuses. Right at School provides safe, engaging, and meaningful extracurricular programs to enrich the lives of students and give parents peace of mind. 

Learnika Language and Tutoring Center provides programs in Spanish, academic tutoring, homework help, coding and more.

Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD)

If you live on the Stanford campus, you are a part of the Palo Alto Unified School District. Find information about:

Additional Public and Private Schools

You can find ratings of schools at California School Ratings.

If you live off-campus and not in Palo Alto, you may be in one of these school districts:

If you are considering private school, Private School Review can help you find one in your area.

Transportation Services

To find Shuttle Services to assist with getting your child off to school, home from school, and to extra-curricular activities:

This list is provided as a service only. The WorkLife Office and Stanford University do not endorse any of these references. These resources are not exhaustive but a sample of local resources.