Policies & Procedures » Enrollment Policy & Procedure

Enrollment Policy & Procedure

Enrollment Policy


ACE is committed to enrolling a diverse student population and shall abide by the provisions in Louisiana Statutes, RS 17:3991(B)(3), which forbid discrimination based on race, national origin, gender, marital status, ethnicity, or disability.  


ACE will admit students of any race, color, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. Pursuant to RS 17:3991(C)(1)(a), the charter school shall enroll an eligible student who submits a timely application unless the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. In such cases, all applicants will have an equal opportunity to enroll through a random selection process. In accordance with RS 17:3991(B), a charter school may give enrollment preference to populations denoted in the Lottery Rules and Procedures under the Preference section.  


Applications for the upcoming school year will be accepted during the open enrollment period from December 1, 2024, to January 17, 2025.  All applications will be date/time-stamped as they are received and filed by grade level.  Only applications that have completed the application process: 

  • application interest form
  • required documentation as specified in the application
  • complete screening by program coordinator 

will be placed in the lottery process.  


If the number of kindergarten applications exceed available seats, a public lottery will determine which applicants are admitted for the next school year. The drawing will continue until all names are drawn and either scheduled for enrollment or placed on a numerical waiting list.  


Starting January 18, 2025, applicants who complete the application process will be placed at the bottom of the waiting list for the applicable grade level and program in the order completed following the lottery. 


Parents will be notified of their child’s acceptance via email and/or letter no later than seven (7) days after the lottery drawing.  


ACE endeavors to achieve racial and ethnic balance through a comprehensive marketing plan, including outreach to underrepresented populations. Efforts include community postings, public service announcements, in-person events, and availability of bilingual staff.


Admissions Overview


  • Open enrollment period:  December 1, 2024 to January 17, 2025 - Parents will have until January 17, 2025 to:
    • complete the online application
    • submit all required documentation (in person)
  • January 18, 2025 to February 28, 2025 - for screenings of all new applicants from the open enrollment period
  • February 10, 2025 - February 24, 2025 - for students currently enrolled or on the current waiting list, parents will accept or decline next year’s seat or waiting list position at ACE.
  • March 5, 2025 - lottery drawing
  • March 10, 2025 to March 21, 2024 - to accept or decline lottery seat or waiting list position

For grades 1st–5th, applications will be waitlisted based on their timestamp, receipt of required documentation, program screening and behind the current students waitlisted. 

 

ACE may refuse to admit any student who has been expelled from another educational institution or who is in the process of being expelled from another educational institution. 


Lottery Rules and Procedures


  1. For the purposes of the following rules, the following terms are defined as follows:
    1. All references to dates are defined to mean the CLOSE OF BUSINESS on the date indicated.
    2. Lottery refers to the selection of applicant names by a random method such as a system generated process or blind drawing of individual names from a container in sequence until all names in the container have been exhausted. 
    3. Lottery refers to the process whereby all eligible applicants are assigned a random number by the ED and sorted, by grade, in order of the randomly assigned number.
  2. A lottery is conducted for grades where the number of applicants exceeds the available seats.
  3. Only applicants with completed open enrollment by the January 17, 2025, deadline are eligible for the lottery. 
  4. Lottery applicants offered a seat must respond by March 21, 2025. Non-responses will result in the seat being offered to the next applicant on the waiting list.  
  5. Parents of currently enrolled students, must accept or decline the 25-26 school year seat at ACE by February 24, 2025.
  6. Waiting lists roll over from year to year; however, parents/guardians must accept or decline to remain on the waitlist by February 24, 2025 in order to retain a spot on the waitlist.  

Preference

  1. All preference categories shall be published prior to the lottery being conducted.
  2. All applicants entitled to receive a placement preference shall be identified PRIOR to the lottery.
  3. All preferences shall be considered in the following hierarchy:
    1. Applicant child of: charter board member, employee of the school, or other preference established in the school charter application.
    2. Applicant sibling of an accepted applicant applying for the same academic year.
    3. Directors, officers, partners, or board members of the charter holder
  4. Siblings who are applying for the first time will receive preference only after one of the siblings has been accepted.