Enrollment Policy Click Here For Downloadable Documents
In accordance with California State Charter School Law (Sect. 47605), Nevada City School of the Arts (NCSA) uses predetermined priorities for acceptance of applicants to the school. In order of priority they are
- Students already enrolled in the site-based at NCSA
- Siblings of those already enrolled at the site based NCSA & Children/Grandchildren of staff and teachers working at NCSA
- Students enrolled in the Home Study program (after one year of continuous enrollment)*
- Siblings/Children of Alumni of NCSA
- Students lotteried in the prior year and who remain on the waitlist
- Lottery draw
Open Enrollment
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 February and ends the third Friday in March at 3:00 p.m. 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 to apply.
The close of open enrollment is the third Friday of March at 3:00 p.m. The lottery draw happens the Wednesday of the following week. Each applicant is placed in a priority category (see list above). If there is an opening in the grade for which the student has applied, the opening will be filled in priority order. If there is more than one applicant in a given priority category, a lottery draw will occur. Students not drawn for open spots will be given a priority number within their category based on the lottery draw and placed on the waiting list. All new openings will be filled according to the waitlist priority.
Families who apply after the initial lottery date will be placed in a second lottery pool. Slots will be filled from the second lottery for the current school year after the current waitlist has been exhausted. However, if a student in categories 2-5 applies they will bypass everyone in categories 6-7 and be placed in their categories respectively.
*Students enrolled in home study must have participated in the home study program for one continuous year in order to receive a priority spot on the waitlist.
Acceptance of Enrollment – March- August (For Following School Year)
After the lottery draw, parents of accepted students will be contacted and given a maximum of 2 business days to accept the opening. If they do not accept the opening or respond within the allotted time, the student’s name will be removed from the list, and the next child on the waiting list will be offered the available position. In addition to a verbal acceptance, parents must complete the appropriate paperwork registering their student for the new school year. This paperwork is mailed out following the verbal acceptance and is expected to be returned two weeks before school begins. If it is not received by that time, the student will be removed from the class roster and the next child on the waitlist will be offered the opening.
Acceptance of Enrollment – August-April (For Current School Year)
When an opening becomes available, parents of student applicants will be contacted and given a maximum of 2 business days to respond. If they do not accept the opening or respond within the allotted time, the student’s name will be removed from the list, and the next person on the waiting list will be offered the available position. 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.
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 students in categories 2-5. Parents must re-apply each year prior to the close of enrollment to maintain their waitlist priority.
PLEASE NOTE:
Students wishing to transfer to NCSA 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 March 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, by request.
Applications for the 8th Grade site-based program or 8th Grade home study program will not be accepted after September.
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.
Class Transfers – If there is an opening in the Ladybug Kindergarten, Dragonfly Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd or Multi-age classrooms, students already enrolled in the above programs have priority for transfer. However, while a parent may fill out a Transfer Request Form, the decision to move the student will be made by the teachers and School Director.
“Staff” is defined as an employee working 15 hours per week or more or 2 years active, continuous employment if under 15 hours per week.
Exit Policy: We ask parents to let us know when their children will no longer attend NCSA. Because a student is not allowed to be enrolled in two schools at the same time, if we receive an official student cumulative file request from another school, the student will be automatically dropped from our roster and no longer allowed to attend NCSA.
Students in grades 6-8 who have been socially promoted once may be asked to leave NCSA and return to their District of Residence if they do not pass a second semester.
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..
*Parents must reapply every school year for their child to remain on the waitlist.*
*Classroom Placement
Parents may request a specific Kindergarten – 3rd Grade “Path”. Path A is a multiage looping program. Path B is traditional same grade classrooms that have the same teachers for Reading/Math in 1st and 2nd grade.
After the lottery, students whose names are selected for K-3 will be placed on a grade specific list. School staff and the School Director will then determine in which specific classrooms the students will be placed. Students will have placement priority based on their lottery number.
Kindergarten – 3rd
Path A
*Dragonfly K-1 18
*Gryphon Class 2-3 18
Path B
*Ladybug K 20
*First Grade 20
*Second Grade 20
*Third Grade 20
Fourth Grade 29
Fifth Grade 30
Sixth Grade 33
Seventh Grade 33
Eighth Grade 33 (NCSA does not accept applications for 8th grade after September)
Home Study 15 (Limit of 10 students only in 2 day Co-Op)
* 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 main lesson teacher must give full consent to accept a student above the set maximum capacity of the class.*
Revised and Approved by Charter Governance Council February, 2011
enrollment policy 10-11 version 2