{"id":201782,"date":"2026-03-03T06:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/201782\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T06:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:04:08","slug":"sd-unified-expands-free-transitional-kindergarten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/201782\/","title":{"rendered":"SD Unified expands free transitional kindergarten"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Two<\/a>Two students watch a smart board in their classroom. (Photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

San Diego Unified School District<\/a> leaders Monday announced that free transitional kindergarten is being expanded for the next school year with the addition of nine new classrooms and 180 additional enrollment seats.<\/p>\n

Enrollment is open at SanDiegoUnified.org\/TK<\/a> for the 5,200 available TK seats. Students must be four years old on or before Sept. 1, 2026, to enroll for the upcoming school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransitional kindergarten gives our youngest learners the strong start they deserve,\u201d said Shana Hazan, trustee of the district\u2019s Board of Education. \u201cBy adding nine new classrooms and expanding access to 180 more students this year, we are investing in early learning experiences that build confidence, curiosity, and readiness for kindergarten and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cTK provides a nurturing, play-based environment where children develop critical academic and social-emotional skills through exploration and discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the district, TK provides a full day, optional grade of learning and \u201cserves as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten.\u201d It follows the elementary school calendar and bell schedule while offering a \u201cplay-based, developmentally appropriate experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program is offered at all the district\u2019s elementary and K-8 schools with the exceptions of Virtual Academy and Mt. Everest. If a school\u2019s seats are filled, placement will be offered at a nearby school with available space, officials said.<\/p>\n

Some highly busy sites may have a waiting list. Families are encouraged to submit applications between March 2-22 for the best chance of securing a seat in their neighborhood school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want parents to feel confident that TK is more than just an extra year \u2014 it\u2019s a thoughtful bridge between preschool and kindergarten,\u201d said Santos Gonzalez, director of SDUSD\u2019s early learning programs. \u201cIt is an opportunity for families to build a connection to their school community. Our classrooms are designed to nurture curiosity and support each child\u2019s social and emotional development, while building the foundational skills that prepare them for long-term success in school and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

A TK classroom has two teachers, and the curriculum is based on state guidelines that allow for play-based learning to build \u201ca strong academic and social-emotional foundation for future learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Families can apply online. Those who need additional assistance can visit their neighborhood school, a nearby enrollment kiosk or the Neighborhood Schools and Enrollment Options office for in-person support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two students watch a smart board in their classroom. (Photo by Chris Stone\/Times of San Diego) San Diego…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[21989,20299,74,76,75,1354],"class_list":["post-201782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-applications","tag-free","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-unified-school-district"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}