Enrollment
It is the intention of the school to reflect the community it serves. Applications are accepted from any family residing in the Chester Upland School District or surrounding districts in the area.
We are FULL for the 2019/20 school year.
Applications for the 2019/20 will be added to the waiting list only. Only paper applications can be submitted for the current school year at this time.
Open Enrollment for 2020/21
‘Intent to Enroll’ forms for the 2020/21 school year will be accepted through March 4, 2020. Complete forms submitted by the deadline will be entered into the enrollment lottery for available seats. Completing the form does not guarantee your child’s admission or enrollment.
The ‘Intent to Enroll’ form can be completed online, or a paper copy can be picked up at the front desk.
Anti-Discrimination Policy
The Chester Charter Scholars Academy does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, sex, color, religion or any other classification protected by law in the administration of its education and admission policies.
Once a Seat is Offered
Available seats will be extended to students according to the order determined by the lottery process.
Once a seat is offered for the 2020/21 school year, a Full Application must be completed and submitted within 7 days, along with supporting documents. These must be submitted at the Chester Charter Scholars Academy so that the original birth certificate can be verified by a CCSA staff member.
Grade Placement Instructions for 2019/20
Final grade placement will not be confirmed until an official school transcript or report card is received and reviewed. Please be advised that if any false or misleading information is provided your child’s offer for enrollment may be revoked. Applicants for all grade levels must satisfy the placement requirements indicated below.
Incoming Kindergarteners
Children entering kindergarten must be 5 years old on or before September 30, 2019.
Incoming Grades 1–8
Those entering Grades 1–8 should apply to, and will be placed in, the appropriate grade in progression. The final report card for the 2018/19 year must demonstrate that the student was promoted.
Incoming High Schoolers
Those entering Grades 9-12 should apply to the appropriate grade in progression. Applicants must have fulfilled the following credit requirements:
Students entering the 10th Grade must have at least 6 credits, including 1 year of Math, Science, English, and History.
Students entering the 11th Grade must have at least 12 credits, including 2 years of Math, Science, English, and History.
Students entering the 12th Grade must have at least 18 credits, including 3 years of Math, Science, English, and History.
Enrollment Guidelines for the 2020/21 Academic Year
Re-Enrollment
January 27 – January 31
The re-enrollment period is for the school year starting the following September.
Already enrolled students will keep their seats provided they submit a re-enrollment form. Siblings who reside with currently enrolled CCSA students may also be enrolled at this time.
If there are seats available, siblings residing with currently enrolled CCSA students will receive preference in the enrollment process.
Open Enrollment
February 3 – March 4
Children not currently enrolled at CCSA apply for enrollment at this time. Formerly enrolled students who failed to re-enroll during the re-enrollment period also apply at this time, and participate in the “open” enrollment process.
At the end of the “open” enrollment period, if there are sufficient seats for all applicants to attend, they will be automatically enrolled and registered to attend CCSA for the following academic year.
Lottery
March 13, public event
If there are more eligible applicants than there are available seats in a particular grade, the school will conduct a manual lottery for that grade to determine who will be entitled to register.
Applicants who are not successful at the lottery are placed on the Waiting List.
Only applications completed and received by the “open” enrollment deadline are eligible to participate in the lottery. Applications that are received after the deadline will be considered only after the Waiting List, generated by the lottery, has been exhausted. Late applications are then accepted on a “first-come, first-serve” basis.
How does the Lottery work?
When there are more applicants than there are seats available in a grade, the school holds a lottery to determine which applicants are eligible for registration. In this case, all applications for that grade received during the “open” enrollment period are entered into the lottery.
The lotteries for all grades take place at a single, public event. Applicants’ names are drawn blind from a container, or selected by some other random, manual method. After the available seats in a grade have been filled in this way, the remaining names are added to the waiting list according to the order in which they are drawn. The lottery finishes when all the names in the container have been drawn. It is always conducted manually, without the use of a computer.
Lists of General Rules and Procedures are published below.
Lottery: General Rules
- Manual lottery refers to the selection of applicant names by a random method such as the blind drawing of individual names from a container in sequence until all names in the container have been exhausted. The lottery will be open to all and will not rely on computers.
- Only one (1) lottery shall be conducted by the school to include all grades in which the number of applicants exceeds the number of expected seats available.
- Only completed applications received by the “open” enrollment deadline, first Tuesday in March are eligible to participate in the lottery.
- If there are fewer applicants than the number of seats anticipated to be available, no public lottery shall be conducted for that grade because all of those applicants will be eligible for admission.
- Should any seats become available after the date of the lottery, offers of admission will be extended according to the order of the waiting list.
- All applicants offered a seat must accept within seven (7) calendar days, or forfeit the offer. Those not responding (excluding declined offers) will be placed on the waiting list.
- All applications received after the “open” enrollment period will be accepted on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, after the waiting list has been exhausted.
- Lotteries for all necessary grades will be conducted by second Friday in March.
Lottery: General Procedures
The “open” enrollment period must be published in advance of the lottery date regardless of the type of Lottery.
- A public event will be scheduled on the second Friday in March, if necessary.
- The School administration selects all applications received during the “open” enrollment period for entry into a public lottery.
- The School administration selects the grade levels that will be entered into the lottery, based on the number of applications received and the number of seats available.
- Cards, sorted by grade, are generated with the names of all applicants eligible to participate in the manual lottery. The cards are placed into containers specific to each grade.
- The order in which applicants’ names are drawn are recorded by writing the selection number on the card as drawn. Drawing should be done by a neutral third party.
- Lottery results for each grade will be posted by applicant name.
- The School administration will extend offers of admission. (See General Rule #6, regarding offers not accepted within the designated time frame.)
- Remaining applicants are assigned to the waiting list in the order of their lottery number.
- Applicants who applied after the “open” enrollment period are placed on the waiting list in the order that their completed application was received (date and time).
- Applicants on the waiting list will receive letters indicating their status.
- Successful applicants who decline admission are removed from the roster. The seats thereby opened are made available to applicants on the waiting list.
