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Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School of Excellence welcomes applications from all students who are residents of Massachusetts and who expect to enter the grades served by the school. The school opens in the Fall of 2006 with kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. The school will continue to add one grade each subsequent year until it serves kindergarten through 5th grade. Every year, the school will add 60 new students, for a total of 360 students.
Application Process
All application processes will be at least one month long. The enrollment process for each school year begins in March of the preceding year (18 months before the beginning of the school year) with an early admission application period that ends around June 10 (1 year before the beginning of the school year). The early admission application period will include information sessions and the distribution of applications. All applicants and their parents/guardians are strongly encouraged to attend a school information session, read the application, complete the application, and agree to sign the parent/guardian partnership agreement. The school will hold an admissions lottery by mid-June. MLK Charter School will then have an early winter application period and a late winter application period. The next application deadline after the early admission application period will be the end of the early winter application period on January 20. The school will hold an admissions lottery in late January. The deadline for the late winter application period is March 10. The school will hold an admissions lottery by March 15. Applicants who sign up during an earlier application period will have priority over applicants who sign up during a later application period.
The information collected on the application is used to determine eligibility for enrollment and to collect general information. It is not used to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age, ancestry, athletic performance, special need, proficiency in the English language or a foreign language, or prior academic achievement.
Each enrollment period concludes with a publicly held lottery to allocate available slots to applicants in the available grades. If places are available in any grade after the lottery, MLK Charter School will fill those places from the waiting list or, if no students are on the waiting list, from the next application and lottery process. Additional application periods and lotteries will be scheduled as necessary to maintain full enrollment.
Eligibility Criteria
Enrollment eligibility in a specific grade is met if:
· the student is a resident of Massachusetts;
· the student will be five years old before September 1;
· prior to August, the student has successfully completed (or is expected to complete) the grade preceding the grade to which he or she seeks admission; and
· the parent/guardian of the applicant has signed the application and the parent/guardian partnership agreement stating that s/he understands the family’s obligations to the school.
Applicants who fail to meet the eligibility criteria will be notified by mail.
Waiting List Policy
If a slot becomes available, waiting list candidates will be offered the position by telephone and in writing. Waiting list candidates will have five days from the date the school makes the offer of the position, to accept or decline the offer. If the student declines the offer, he or she will be permanently removed from the waiting list. Waiting list candidates who decline an offer will not be placed at the bottom of the waiting list.
The waiting list is retained each year. Waiting list candidates do not need to reapply for admission, as long as they return to the school the signed waiting list confirmation form sent out in February indicating that they wish to remain on the list. If the confirmation form is not returned or a waiting list family has failed to notify the school of a forwarding address in the case of a move, the school will assume the waiting list family is no longer interested in remaining on the waiting list. In this case, the waiting list candidate will be permanently removed from the waiting list. Waiting list candidates can be displaced by the siblings of enrolled students through the sibling preference provision.
Lottery Procedures and Preferences
The school will determine the number of spaces available by grade level. Each grade at MLK Charter School generally has approximately 60 students. If the number of student applicants for a particular grade, who satisfy the eligibility criteria for that grade, exceeds the space available, an independent public lottery will be held to allocate slots to applicants. At least one week notice will be given prior to the lottery. Admissions lotteries will be at the school or another location in Springfield. An individual not connected with the school will draw the lottery.
Preference will be given to applicants residing in Springfield and to applicants who have siblings currently attending. Once students are selected for open slots in each grade, the remaining applicants will be placed on a waiting list in the order in which their names were drawn.
If the number of applicants is greater than the number of spaces available, after all applicants who are siblings of current students or are Springfield residents are selected, then a similar lottery will be conducted for out-of-town applicants. All applicants selected by lottery will be notified by mail, and waiting list applicants will be informed of their status by mail.
Students offered admission at the conclusion of an application period must accept the offer of admission within 14 days.
The school may not offer admission to those students for whom enrollment in the school would cause the sending district to exceed the 9% tuition cap. However, for those students to whom the above policy applies but who are also siblings of students currently in attendance at the school, the state may pay the child’s tuition, subject to appropriation.
Sibling Preference Provision
The charter school law, M.G.L. c.71, s. 89, has a sibling preference provision that gives siblings of currently attending students preference over non-siblings in enrollment. Therefore, if the sibling of a student already enrolled in the school, applies to the school during the application period, then that student has enrollment preference over existing waiting list candidates.
Enrollment Requirements
All children who are accepted for enrollment, either directly through the lottery or off the waiting list must complete a questionnaire that provides the school with pertinent contact information, school background information, and other data. All students will be required to provide evidence in the form of permanent transcripts that they will complete their current grade by August (before the beginning of the school year). In addition, parents/guardians must submit proof of residency, a permanent record release form, required medical forms, sign the parent/guardian partnership agreement, and attend the required orientation session.
Proof of Residency
Proof of residency can include any current utility bill such as a phone, cable or electric bill, which indicates that the family receives mail at the address provided to the school. In order to prove residency, families must provide copies of two separate bills with that address. In instances in which families do not receive bills to their home, e.g., they live with a relative, the school seeks acceptable substitutions on a case by case basis. For example, a family might be asked to provide a driver's license, a paycheck stub, and general mail with that address. While the school acknowledges that these submissions are not proof that the family lives in that home, it recognizes that there are circumstances in which families can not provide utility bills in their name as proof of residence.
Permanent Record Release Form
A parent or guardian of a student who wishes to enroll must sign the Permanent Record Release Form which authorizes the child's previous school to forward the student's permanent records, including health, transcripts and individualized education plan to MLK Charter School.
Medical Records and Forms
Similarly, the school must have on file the required medical forms before children can enroll in the school. These forms include:
1) Massachusetts School Health Record. This form contains records showing that the student has: 1) had a physical exam in the six months prior to the start of the school year; 2) up-to-date immunizations; 3) had screening for vision, hearing, and scoliosis. Please note that Massachusetts state law requires all students enrolling in a new school to have a physical examination before entering the school.
2) Authorization for Dispensing Medication in School Form. If a child must receive medication during the school day, this form must be signed by a parent/guardian and have the instructions and signature of the physician who ordered the medication. The form is accompanied by a letter explaining the procedure for administering medication in school.
3) Physician Information Release Form. This form must be filled out and signed by a parent/guardian, so that the school may contact a child's physician in the case of an emergency.
4) Emergency Medical Treatment Release Form. This form, which must be signed by a parent/guardian, gives the school permission to provide for emergency medical treatment in the event that a parent/guardian cannot be reached. No child will be allowed to enter school if the school does not have this form on file.
These forms must be returned to the school prior to August 1 (before the beginning of the school year).
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