Here is how open enrollment, lottery, and waitlists work
Students are welcome to apply to a charter school at any time during the school year. If a seat is available for your student you will be offered it immediately. You do not need to wait to apply. However, open enrollment is for the next school year. Because there are a limited number of seats available at a charter school, a random lottery system is used to ensure seats are offered equitably.
This is how it works. Every year, a certain number of seats are available after the grade before it moves up. If there are extra seats available, everyone who applied during open enrollment will be placed into a random lottery if there are more applicants than seats available. The open seats are offered to those whose names are drawn in the lottery. The rest of the applicants are placed on a waiting list in the order in which their name is drawn.
Here is a real-life example of a third-grade class:
- Capacity – 100 students
- 75 second-grade students recommit to attend in third grade, so they are guaranteed a seat.
- 25 seats are open and available.
- During open enrollment: 30 students apply for those seats.
- A lottery is held and offered to the first 25 students and the remaining five are placed on the waiting list.
- Offer letters are sent to the 25 lottery winners. If five of those students do not reply or complete their paperwork, the five remaining students on the waiting list will be offered seats.
It’s important to note that every grade at every school does not fill up completely every year, so throughout the year, you may apply for a school outside of open enrollment and if a seat is open, you will be offered that seat. If a grade is full after open enrollment, you will be placed at the end of the waiting list. If you do not get accepted into the school during the school year, you will need to reapply the following year for the next grade. It is also possible that a grade fills completely, and no seats are available during open enrollment. In that case, a lottery is still held to determine your place on the waiting list.
We offer preferences for students of active military, children of governing board members, and children of teachers and staff. Other than that, only preferences allowed by law or required by the charter school contract will be honored.