Nevada City School of the Arts

Enrollment Policy

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In accordance with California State Charter School Law (Sect. 47605), Nevada City School of the Arts (NCSA) uses pre-determined priorities for acceptance of applicants to the school. In order of priority they are:

  1. Students already enrolled at NCSA
  2. Siblings of those already enrolled at the site based NCSA
  3. Children of staff and teachers working at NCSA
  4. Siblings of Alumni of NCSA
  5. Students enrolled in the Home Study program (after one year of continuous enrollment)
  6. Applicants who reside in the Grass Valley School District (proof of residency must be submitted with application and also upon admittance into the school).
  7. Lottery draw

The above priorities apply to all student applicants during the "Open Enrollment Periods". In order for applications to be considered for the next school year, they must be received during the initial open enrollment period that begins the first week of March and ends the first week of May. Please call our school to confirm that your application has been received. Closing of Open Enrollment will be announced a minimum of 14 days prior to the deadline.

At the close of open enrollment, priorities 1-6 will be applied first. All remaining applicants will be included in a lottery draw. Each drawn applicant is assigned a priority number, in the order of selection. Openings will be filled accordingly. Families may apply between August and April and will be placed in a second lottery pool. Slots will be filled from the second pool for the current school year after the current waitlist has been exhausted. However if a sibling of a student in the site-based school applies, they will automatically go to the top of the list, bypassing everyone on the waitlist. In addition, students must have participated in the home study program for one year in order to receive a priority spot on the waitlist.

When an opening becomes available, parents of student applicants will be contacted and given a maximum of 2 days to respond. If they do not accept the opening, or respond within the allotted time, the studen's name will be removed from the list, and the next person on the waiting list will be offered the available position.

Those students carried over on the waiting list from one year to the next will be given priority over newly accepted applicants with the exception of siblings who will always have first priority.

PLEASE NOTE:

Students wishing to transfer during the course of the school year will not be enrolled until they have completed an intake meeting with the school director and teacher.

Students enrolled after the lottery date cannot be given continuing enrollment for the following year unless there is an opening. For example, if a student is enrolled into the school on May 15th, but the class for the following year has already been determined full through the prioritization process, that student will not be guaranteed placement. They will be allowed enrollment for the current year and placed on the waiting list for the following year, per request.

Students who have left NCSA, and wish to return, will still be required to follow the standard order of priority as outlined above. Students who leave our site-based program to go to Home Study retain alumni status.

If students on the waiting list are offered an opening and they do not accept it, they will be removed from the list, and the opening will be given to the next waiting student. If circumstances are such that the reason for refusal is poor timing of transfer, the parent may request for their child to be added to the bottom of the waitlist.

*Parents must reapply every school year for their child to remain on the waitlist.*

Pre-K Enrollment in KinderQuest

At the teacher’s and Governance Council's discretion, students who turn 5 after Dec. 2 and before March 5th may be added to the KinderQuest Program (limit 2). In order to be admitted to the program, students must demonstrate appropriate aptitude and social skills to be determined by an admittance interview with the teacher and school director. Further, the parents must commit to the student entering full-time Kindergarten the following year. At no time will a pre-K student take the place of a child who turns 5 before Dec. 2.

Nevada City School of the Arts, as a public charter school, is a school of choice. Poor attendance could be an indication that this school may not be an appropriate choice for the student. Attendance of 75% or lower will result in a review with the parents, student (when applicable), teacher(s) and the School Director, to determine the best means of providing for the student.

CLASS CAPACITY

The maximum size of student enrollment per class at NCSA is:

There may be circumstances in which the school director, for the benefit of the composition of the class, makes exceptions to these class sizes. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the Governance Council. Under any circumstances, the core teacher must give full consent to accept a student above the set maximum capacity of the class.