District outlines deadlines for 2016-17 Choice process
Submit application by January
29th deadline for priority consideration
Last year, the Adams 12 Five
Star Schools received more than 4,000 Choice applications for the 2015-16
school year. In accordance with the state’s open enrollment law, the district’s
Choice Program allows for students to apply to attend schools outside of their
attendance area boundary. Those who are approved for Choice are responsible for
their own transportation.
Both in-district and
out-of-district students can apply for Choice. Out-of-district Choice requests
are considered after in-district applications.
Acceptance to a Choice school is based upon several criteria:
availability of space, sufficient teaching staff, appropriate programs and the
necessary facilities for special needs students. While not a guarantee, when possible,
priority will be given to sibling applications so that families will attend the
same school.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools will publicize the schools open
to Choice for the 2016-2017 school year on December 1, 2015. These
will be published in the December issue of the Five Star Journal and will be posted online at the district web
site at www.adams12.org/choice_schools. Families with children already attending schools that
are not open to Choice are eligible to submit an application for their existing
student to remain at the school or for younger siblings to attend the school
with their older siblings.
The Choice application will
be available beginning December 1st at http://www.adams12.org/choice/application. For families
without computer access, applications will be available at each school and at
the Educational Support Center.
The deadline for priority consideration is January 29,
2016 and is not first-come, first-served.
Parents and students submitting
an application for priority consideration will be notified of the results of their
application no later than the third week of February. If the number of requests
exceeds the spaces available in a given school, the district will hold a
lottery.
The second deadline to submit a Choice application for
the 2016-2017 school year will be March 31, 2016. As with the first round, if the number of requests
exceeds the spaces available for priority consideration in a given school, the
district will hold a lottery. Notification
of approval or denial will be made no later than the third week of April.
In addition to the two deadlines above, in some years
a third round of Choice may be held in August & September if space is
available. While the 1st and 2nd
round of Choice is lottery based, applications in the 3rd round of Choice are processed
on a first-come, first-served basis and submitted at the school.
The Adams 12 Admissions
Office determines the acceptance of Choice requests. For traditional schools,
extended-day tuition-based kindergarten does
not go through the Choice Program. For
magnet schools, extended-day tuition-based kindergarten does go through the Choice Program.
In-district students are not required to apply for Choice to attend secondary
programs like Horizon SOAR, Legacy 2000, Mountain Range Global Studies,
Northglenn High STEM Program and Thornton High International Baccalaureate (IB). Application
and acceptance to those programs goes through the individual school. Out-of-district students wishing to attend
high school programs that are not school-wide must apply for both Choice and
with the program. If the school is not open to Choice then the program is closed
to out-of-district students. If the
student is not selected in the Choice lottery, they are waitlisted to the
school and program.
Parents of extended-day, tuition-based kindergarteners
at traditional schools should note that enrollment in that program does
not automatically mean the student will go to the same school for first grade. The student must apply through the Choice Program
for first grade placement if he/she wants to go to a school other than his/her
boundary school. Also note that the
school the child attended for kindergarten may not necessarily be open for
Choice. Parents of extended-day,
tuition-based kindergarteners for magnet schools do not need to reapply
for Choice as their Choice approval remains in effect through the highest grade
served at their magnet school.
The duration of a Choice
placement is valid only for the grades which that school serves. For example,
if a student attends a Choice elementary school, the approval is valid to the
end of fifth grade, as long as there are no significant changes in that
school’s enrollment or facilities. When a student transitions from elementary
to middle school or from middle to high school, they must reapply for Choice.
If they don’t, the student’s placement automatically reverts to their boundary
school.
To learn more about the
Choice Program and to get answers to frequently asked questions, please visit
the district web site at http://www.adams12.org/choice. The
Admissions Office can be contacted via email at choice@adams12.org or via phone at 720-972-4055.
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